Stitch, Brinn, Stitch!

FO: Cabled Summer Bag

May 30, 2009 in knitting | Tags: acrylic yarn, bag, frogged, knitting, UGH, yarn, yellow | Leave a comment

Unfortunately, this did not come out how I wanted, despite modifications, so it’s headed for the frogpond (or, well, hibernation I guess because I have a metric fuckton of yellow RHSS and I can’t see needing the yarn from this bag any time soon). It’s not so bad though as I didn’t really need another bag and I prefer to sew purses anyway. *shrug* Here are the specs regardless:

Pattern: DROPS cable bag, 98-54
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, in Bright Yellow
Needles: US 8/5 mm Knit Picks Options 24″ and 30″ circular needle
Modifications: Many. Cast on fewer, made the increase and decrease rows less steep, lengthened the cable panel for a larger bag, made the cables wider (4×4 instead of 3×3, which actually made a huge difference) probably effed up the bottom bit (I basically just decreased, did garter for a while, then seamed the bottom using Kitchener stitch). I also cast on with a provisional cast on and knit the top garter band later because I wanted to see how my CO number would work and also I was anxious to get to the cables to see how they would work out. Planned to line with pretty pink fabric and use a chain handle, but didn’t get that far.

In happier news, the Climbing Vines pullover is nearly done. I have the entire body knit as well as a sleeve and a half. The other sleeve will probably be done by Tuesday. I’m also working on a special present for my friend Sarah’s birthday (if you’re reeeeally curious, Sarah can be found in the second ever post of this blog, modeling a hat, a crochet calorimetry, and a scarf thing), which I am planning to mail to her Tuesday. When she gets it, I’ll post pictures here. I also started a pair of gloves, mostly because I wanted something small I could knit while at Busch Gardens (Williamsburg) with some friends today. They have fingers, so they’ll be taking a little longer, but they will happen, and pictures will happen here. ALSO, there’s swap stuff (yes, another one). So stay tuned for lots more posts about finished things.

Rainbow Swap

May 27, 2009 in crochet, knitting, sewing, swap | Tags: crochet, jewelry, knitting, mittens/gloves, rainbow, sewing, swap | Leave a comment

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.

Craft My Wish Swap

May 24, 2009 in knitting, other people's crafts/cool things, paper craft, sewing, swap | Tags: amigurumi, apron, baby things, black, blue, bookmark, buttons, cold weather things, cozy, crochet, embroidery, FO, food, green, hat, knitting, pillow, red, sewing, swap, sweater | Leave a comment

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.

It's about time for a new craft

May 20, 2009 in spinning | Tags: roving, spinning, wool | Leave a comment

I came home from work today to a couple of packages. This is what was in one of them:

A pound of white wool roving for me to practice spinning on! I also recently ordered a couple of spindles, which should be here tomorrow-ish. I am extremely excited to add this new craft to my repertoire. : )

Also, it smells just like sheep and a farm, and I love it.

I also received another Craft my Wish package, but I don’t have pictures of that yet. Probably tomorrow.

UFOs

May 18, 2009 in knitting | Leave a comment

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. : )

Buttons! (And some knitterly things)

May 16, 2009 in knitting, other people's crafts/cool things | Tags: acrylic yarn, bag, buttons, grey, knitting, sweater, wip, wool, yarn, yellow | Leave a comment

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. : )

FO: String Bag

May 12, 2009 in knitting | Tags: bag, cotton, FO, knitting, yarn | Leave a comment

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.

Craft my Wish Swap–Part One

May 12, 2009 in swap | Tags: bag, fabric, green, magazine, organizer, red, sewing, swap | Leave a comment

So yesterday, as a lovely end to a fairly crappy day, I received one of two packages for the Craft my Wish swap on Craftster. This was something of a nontraditional swap in that the people/person you craft for are/is not the people/person you receive from. I’ll show you what I sent off in a later post, but here I’ll show you what I got from Craftster user zcrafter:

A holder for my circular needles, a drawstring bag, and a vintage knitting magazine full of sweaters. I haven’t really flipped through the magazine yet, but I’m thinking it will be interesting and maybe have some cute vintage-y patterns. : )

FO: Shrug

May 10, 2009 in knitting | Tags: acrylic yarn, FO, knitting, shrug, yarn | 2 comments

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. : )

FO: Washcloth

May 10, 2009 in knitting | Leave a comment

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. : )