Stitch, Brinn, Stitch!

FO: Swallowtail Redux

March 21, 2010 in knitting | Tags: finished object, FO, handspun, knitting, scarf, shawl, wool, yarn | Leave a comment

I finished my handspun Swallowtail!

Pattern: Swallowtail by Evelyn Clark
Yarn: My handspun superwash merino. Pretty.
Needles: US 4/3.75 mm Knit Picks Options circ
Mods: 19 Budding Lace repeats.

I love this thing, guys. It’s wonderful. It’s soft and light and warm and I SPUN THE YARN. I love this pattern (this is my second, and I don’t really repeat patterns often), and I love the yarn. The colors are gorgeous, and they worked really well with the pattern, which sort of surprised me since I knew it was going to stripe. But it worked out so well.

WONDERFUL. I really love it. It’s the perfect light layer when my arms are a little cool and it’s SO PRETTY.

Okay, I am going to stop gushing now.

Coming soon: swap things (Tuesday probably) and some fiber. I’m also knitting swap things, but I’ll probably post those all at once. Oh, and I’m starting a new sweater. More on that later. : )

FO: Linen Pouch and some WIP's.

March 19, 2010 in knitting | Tags: bag, BFL, finished object, FO, handspun, hat, knitting, Miss Babs, wip, wool, work in progress, yarn | 1 comment

Today, I’ve got one small FO to show you and a couple of wip’s. First, the FO:

Pattern: None, just a square of linen stitch
Yarn: Handspun Miss Babs BFL
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm

My lining is sort of shoddy and it’s not wide enough, but it fits my phone and ID card fairly easily, and that’s what I use it for. Plus I get to look at my pretty pretty handspun even when it’s not cold enough for Saroyan. : )

Currently, I’m working on a hat that will probably be finished today or tomorrow. Currently, it looks like this:

(it’s rather difficult to photograph a half-finished hat, by the way)

Almost done. I’m using the same orange vintage Grants Wool I’ve had for ages and am slowly making my way through. The color is a lot less obnoxious than the bright orange it originally was, but I still don’t love it. This hat is for a swap. The swap is called “Yarnies Vs. Sewers” and is partnered based on craft, a yarnie (spinner/knitter/crocheter) with a sewer. Sign ups aren’t technically over until next week, but another person and I decided that we needed to be partnered based on the (probably rude) thing I wanted to make for someone. So we insisted, and the mod complied, and we’ve already gotten started (even though the send out isn’t until Mary). I’m making a total of five things, none particularly complicated, and will probably be finished quite early.

I am also sort of working on spinning this:

Or half of it anyway. I got 8 oz. of Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino in a Ravelry destash, and I’m spinning 4 oz. into what will hopefully be a 2 ply worsted that I’ll knit into the yoke of a sweater.

Also, I am waiting on some mail–an OWS swap which I am incredibly excited to receive, and some roving I ordered which is RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME and gorgeous, and I’ll definitely be showing it off here. I expect to get both things on Monday or Tuesday, so stay tuned for that.

FO: Swap Slippers

March 17, 2010 in crochet, swap | Tags: acrylic yarn, crochet, finished object, FO, ongoing wish swap, own, slippers, swap, wool, yarn | Leave a comment

So for my lastest OWS adventure, I claimed JodiLynn85 for slippers. Fast and fun to make, and now I’ll probably make some for myself. Take a look:

Pattern: Mary Jane Slippers
Yarn: Bernat Alpaca Blend
Hook: H8/5 mm
Mods: Worked an extra toe round, only used one color.

These came out pretty well, I think. And they were SUPER fast to make. Less than an hour per slipper. Probably close to an hour and a half for the pair. Yeah. FAST. They fit me, which means they should fit her pretty well too. I used a Bernat alpaca blend that everyone on Ravelry seems to despise, but I really don’t think it’s that bad. I mean, yeah, it sheds a lot, but so do cats and the shedding wasn’t really too bad. And I personally don’t find it that itchy, but I seem to be immune to all but the absolute itchiest of fibers. Like, I have no problem whatsoever wearing Cascade eco next to skin, and people bitch about that one all the time.

Pair two:

Pattern: Same as above, Mary Jane Slippers.
Yarn: Vintage wool that I over dyed and now instead of obnoxious orange is just blood orange colored.
Hook: H8/5 mm
Mods: One color. I left out the extra round I added above.

These were also super fast to make and probably took less than two hours total. There was a small hiccup when I realized I’d sewn the strap and button on backwards on the second one (I have a tendency to mix that up a lot), but that was easily fixed. And they came out pretty well. Ignore my purple feet; I didn’t feel like taking my socks off.

The reason, by the way, that one of them is two different colors is that I overdyed the yarn, and it didn’t take up the color evenly at all. The darker color is how I wanted the whole yarn to come out, but it didn’t. Boo. Oh well. That just means I have plenty of yarn for making swap things.

Futurama! Part the Second

March 15, 2010 in other people's crafts/cool things, swap | Tags: brain slug, decoupage, futurama, jewelry, swap | Leave a comment

So received my package for the Futurama swap today! I was in a round robin, as I said last time, and the person who sent to me was Tygermane. Here’s what she sent:

A box of goodies! With lots of pictures.

Magnets! They will have a place of honor on my minifridge until next year, when they will have a place of honor on my apartment fridge.

Brain slug earrings. Clearly I should not wear these when I’m supposed to be learning in class.

Nibbler necklace. Cute! Though I may move it to a chain if I get a chance to go to a craft store.

A totebag with an outline of Bender! I love it. It’s perfect for holding knitting.

And my favorite, a keychain of baby Bender! It’s already on my keys.

If you want to see more crafty Futurama goodness, the gallery for the swap is here.

FO: Spunky Eclectic Shetland

March 13, 2010 in spinning | Tags: fiber, finished object, FO, shetland, spinning, Spunky Eclectic, wool, yarn | Leave a comment

So I finally finished the shetland I was spinning. It took a while, but it came out totally awesome and I love it to pieces. Here’s what the fiber looked like:

(Side note: Someone pm’d me on Ravelry to tell me she thought this looked like a pile of ferrets at first glance)

And here’s what it looks like now:

Fiber: Spunky Eclectic Shetland top in Winnipeg
Weight: Fingering/sport (it’s a bit uneven)
Ply: 3 ply/Navajo plied
Yardage: Total of 460
Spindle: Schacht Hi-Lo, also ordered from Spunky Eclectic

With a coin for scale:

Okay, so I love this yarn to pieces. It’s the thinnest and most even thing I’ve ever spun, it’s reasonably soft, and I got an awesome yardage out of it (this is mostly because of the thin bits, but still). I love it. I’m planning to make socks with it, but regular size ones, not just the ankle socks I’ve been making. I’ll probably do a stockinette foot and ribbed leg, but I haven’t decided yet (but I’ll definitely be working them toe up). One of the skeins has a lot more pink than the others, and I expect that’ll show up in the socks too, but I don’t really have a problem with mismatching socks, so it’s alright.

I have a few projects on the needles currently (a shawl, that damned Featherweight, and some swap stuff), so it might be a bit before I actually start on the socks, but that’s what this yarn will eventually become. And they will be awesome.

I’ve decided, by the way, the Navajo plying is awesome. It’s fast, simple, and results in a lovely round yarn. I had heard that it was a little tricky, but I think because I crochet I picked it up rather quickly. There’s a yard or two of messy plying in the beginning of my sample skein (the tiny one in the first picture), but seeing as I’ll start my socks there, it’s alright since it’ll mostly be taken up in the figure 8 cast on anyway. Now I want to chain ply all of my yarn for socks, but the stash I have currently of fiber is mostly merino, which I wouldn’t want to use for socks. Clearly this means I need to buy more Romney/Jacob/Shetland/other fibers suitable for socks. I think my bank account just groaned in pain.

Birthday Crafting

March 10, 2010 in paper craft | Tags: decoupage, notecards, paper craft | Leave a comment

So my sister’s birthday is later this month, and I’ve just sent off her present. It was pretty simple, but fun to make. She said she wanted a ticket album for her many concert tickets, so that’s what I got her. I found a simple little photo album at the thrift store for 50 cents, and I decorated the cover:

The inside cover has a similar ticket on it with her name. I was feeling clever, so the numbers on the outside cover ticket are her birthday, and the numbers on the inside cover ticket are her cell phone number. : )

I also made her a card, which is awesome and sort of frustrating (but awesome):

It’s the Goddamn Batman! I like it. It’s not as good as the Futurama cards, but I like it.

So happy birthday to my little sister, who’ll be 18 later this month. Crazy.

Futurama Swap! Part the First.

March 8, 2010 in crochet, knitting, paper craft, swap | Tags: brain slug, cozy, crochet, futurama, knitting, leela, notecards, paper craft, swap, yarn | 1 comment

So as I mentioned a couple of days ago, I am participating in a Futurama-themed swap over on Craftster.org. For those of you not familiar with the show… it’s awesome. It’s a cartoon that takes place in the year 3000 in the city of New New York, and it’s full of clever math and science humor. Hilarious. Anyway, there were an odd number of people in the swap, so I was part of a round-robin with myself, Tygermane, and the organizer, Staar84. I sent my package on Thursday, and here’s what I sent to her:

First: a brain slug, as she requested:

Pattern: My own, made up based on various pictures of knitted and crocheted brain slugs.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Serendipity Tweed in Waterlily Leaves, left over from my Watermelon Cardigan.
Needles: 4/3.5 mm dpns
Hook (I know, how dare I combine both knitting and crochet!): G?

Cute, right? Super fast to make. The white part of the eye is quilt batting, and the black part is a button. I crocheted the tentacle/wavy bits because it’s easier to create odd shapes on the fly in crochet over knitting. It’s like, a round of single crochet, a round of double crochet, and a round of sc, hdc, 4dc, hdc, sc shells, which seemed to work pretty well. It sits flat and it’s nice and squishy. I finished it like, two weeks before I sent off for this swap and I’ve become kind of attached to it. Maybe I’ll make another one for myself. I have enough yarn left, I believe.

Next, a seven leaf clover necklace:

Pattern: Uh… none.
Yarn: Serendipity Tweed, same as above
Hook: The blue one? G? I don’t actually know about hook sizes.

I like how this came out a lot. : ) That’s really all I have to say about it.

Next: A coffee cozy!

Pattern: None, my own, but I can write up the chart if anyone’s interested.
Yarn: Undyed wool from a thrift store sweater and purple Lion Wool
Needle: US 7/4.5 mm

I loosely based the design for this off of a cozy I spied on staar84’s wists, but can no longer find. I couldn’t decide how I wanted to close it and I didn’t have any coffee shop sized cups to test it on, so I just made it adjustable with the ribbons.

ALSO, in case you were wondering, folded hems look fantastic but they are a PAIN IN THE ASS. The top and bottom do look all nice and neat though.

Lastly, I made a set of notecards:

Now, if you know anything about me, you know that drawing is NOT my forte. So you know that these were SO MUCH WORK and I am SO PROUD OF MYSELF. Seriously. I can’t draw a lick, but I’m pretty decent at looking at a picture and drawing it myself (a skill I probably picked up from my mother, who is also really good at it). I looked for pictures of the characters, studied them, and drew them on white paper. I am so unbelievably pleased with how the professor especially came out cause he ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE THE CHARACTER. Leela is also good, though not as good as the professor. I’ll admit I traced the clover cause I didn’t feel like fiddling with it. I’m not as pleased with that card, but I do like how I sandwiched the clover in clear tape, just like Fry does in the show. : )

All in all, I say a successful crafting venture. It’s always a good sign when you desperately want to keep the crafts you make for someone else in a swap, and I definitely acheived that here. God, I love those notecards. Maybe I’ll make some more for myself. Or maybe I won’t seeing as they took like four hours.

More Like Thrift Score!

March 6, 2010 in life, stash | Tags: fabric, shopping, stash, yarn | 2 comments

So, yesterday I had to run some errands around Fredericksburg (return some library books, buy a frying pan, locate part of my sister’s birthday present), and I swung by a thrift store I had not previously been to. Not only did I locate what I needed for my sister (a small photo album I’m going to turn into a ticket album–more on that later), but I also scored big in the craft department:

First, I found this lovely tan shrug from The Limited I’m going to frog.

Oh, why did I pick up this lovely little shrug?

That’s right– wool, angora, and CASHMERE. This is totally going to become a cozy cowl (and other things). Oh, and how much did I pay for this beauty?

BAM! A dollar, sucka!

I also picked up this mostly-felted argyle sweater (made of Shetland wool, as the tag says) that was also a dollar. I’m going to felt it further and turn it into a bag that I’ll either keep or sell. We’ll see how it turns out. : )

I also picked up ALL THIS FABRIC for under ten dollars. I KNOW. There’s a couple of fair sized pieces of canvas (I’d estimate about a quarter of a yard), some quarter-yard pieces of cotton fabric, and several yards of thin stretch knit that will probably become a dress at some point. There’s ALSO about a yard of the blue canvas-ish stuff, about a yard of veggie/garden fabric, and a couple yards of a pretty green sheerish fabric that will become a floaty summer skirt. And something else, cause there’s a fair amount. The best buy, in my opinion, was the two-ish yards of brown brocade-ish fabric. Not sure what I’ll do with that, but there’s enough for something substantial.

Yes. All of that for under ten bucks. I’m THRILLED. : )

OWS: Sock Edition

March 4, 2010 in knitting, swap | Tags: cables, cold weather things, finished object, FO, knitting, ongoing wish swap, ows, socks, swap, wool, yarn | Leave a comment

Sooooo I claimed PheonixFireDesigns for hand knit house socks! And they are great.

Pattern: Get-Together Cable Socks
Yarn: Some vintage orange wool I got at the thrift store that I’ve had forever.
Needles: US 6/4 mm Knit Picks Options Circular
Mods: Knit toe-up, left out some of the cables. Basically, I took the k1 rib and the 2×2 cable and threw them into my own socks.

I like how these came out. : ) I absolutely despise the color, but despite that, they’re cute. I worked these two at a time on Magic Loop. I don’t hate the technique, but I don’t think I love it either. I almost certainly wouldn’t bother for fingering weight socks, but these took practically no time at all, so it wasn’t too bad. At the very least, I’m fortunate to have done these on my Knit Picks Options because if I were still working on those cheap Susan Boye circular needles, there’s no way I would have finished these magic loop. I love my bendy Knit Picks cables. : )

Pattern: Basic toe up socks.
Yarn: Ella Rae Solid and some random red wool I probably got at the thrift store.
Needles: US 7/4 mm Knit Picks Options circ

So I love these socks. And if they weren’t size 6.5 and knit specifically for the swap, I’d keep them for myself. As it is, I think I have enough yarn to knit another pair for myself anyway. They remind me of spiderman. : ) I have more of the red than the blue left over, so I think for mine, I’ll do one row of blue and two of red.

Anyway, I hope Phoenix likes her socks. I certainly do. : )

I've Got Mail, Part Two

March 2, 2010 in other people's crafts/cool things, stash, swap | Tags: bender, fiber, futurama, jewelry, knitting, ows, stash, swap | Leave a comment

Seeing as this week is my school’s spring break so most of campus is dead (I got permission to stay in my dorm), I was under the impression that the post office on campus was going to be closed as well. I was anticipating needing to stop any packages I’d receive at the Fredericksburg post office and pick them up from there. Well, as it turns out, the campus post office is open this week. And I woke up this morning to THREE package notification:

First, I received my OWS package from ehinder, who claimed me for throw pillows:

Aren’t they cute? I love the little birdies. They are squishy and wonderful and they are sitting on my bed, looking very pretty. Is it weird that part of the reason that I desperately want a place of own is that I want a couch I can adorn with throw pillows? Because it is. I have four I’ve received from various swaps, and I want to display them on a couch.

Anyway, next, I received my OWS package from padfoot, who claimed me for stitch markers and something from my wists:

Pretty! They’re a bit small, but they’ll be perfect for socks and anything under about a US 5 needle.

Bender embroidery from my wist! I love it! I already stuck it up on my wall (with a bit of packing tape–we’ll see how well that holds up). I am also doing a Futurama swap, and I had the embroidery on my wists for that swap. I hope Tygermane, my partner for that swap, didn’t have the same idea, or I’ll have two! Not that that would be a bad thing–it’s a lovely embroidery and I would definitely use a second one for sewing onto something like a bag.

And knitting earrings! She sent me the knitting earrings from my wists! I’m so excited! They’re so cute, and if I were doing anything today besides lounging around my dorm room, I’d totally wear them and show them off to everyone. I guess I’ll just wait until school starts happening again.

The last package that I received was two 4 oz. braids of fiber from Lakehouse Loft on Artfire. They’re very pretty, but there was a snafu with her wool order or something and they ended up taking over a month to get to me from my order to today. Bleh. They are very pretty though:

Corriedale in “Orchid Garden” and merino in “Storm Front Coming”. I can’t wait to start spinning them (though I have from shetland from Spunky Eclectic to spin first. Two-ply lace weight. Yeah. I’ll be a hundred before I get to these.)