Month: December 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It’s been a wonderful day for my daughter and myself. We’re spending our Christmas at home. About an hour ago, we did make a quick trip to our favorite Chinese restaurant. We don’t eat there often, but now and again we stop in for a treat.

A few moments ago, I logged onto Ravelry… and was thrilled to learn that Tin Can Knits is giving away a free pattern.  Naturally when I was looking through their lovely patterns, I’ve chosen additional ones that I want to knit. I’ve added tincanknits to my favorites since I’ll be back to purchase a pattern from them. I love their designs, and was pleased to learn that they have their own blog too! I’ve purchased quite a few patterns via the Ravelry website, and am always happy to discover new designers.

For my free pattern, I chose the Pop Blanket. I’m knitting a few blankets (long-term projects) but it doesn’t hurt to add another to my blanket pile, right? In order to take advantage of the freebie you must enter the code, Share the Love. This offer is good until January 1, 2013.

I’ll need to decide on the yarn I want for the background color. For myself, I’ll use dark color most likely a grey or perhaps a chocolate brown? Then, I’ll need to choose some colorful variegated yarns for the circles.

 

I was thrilled when I looked through the projects and stumbled upon another user who had a similar idea; darker background and variegated yarn for the circles. I really love what Ravelry user, woolmountains did with her blanket… excellent work!

Nudging Curls & Q, D’Nali, and Sarah’s Crochet since I know they all knit.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

Photo Source: Ravelry

I’m finally getting around to taking photos of some of my WIPS (works in progress)…

 

The yarn featured in these photos are the almost free yarn I received from Knit Picks. It’s fingering weight, and 75% wool, 25% nylon. The stretchiness of nylon and the yarn weight would have made this yarn a perfect candidate for some lightweight knitted socks,  but I chose to use the yarn for the above scarf. The pattern can be found in  the book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

To be honest, it took me a while to finally decide on the two yarns I wanted for this project. I had the colors in my head, but finding those colors… well that took a while. The search was over when I landed on Knit Picks site and discovered the yarns featured above.  Knit Picks Stroll Hand Painted Yarn; Juice Box and Knits Stroll Multi Sock Yarn; Sunset Multi. I thought these two colors would would look great together, and I’m happy to see that I was correct.

 

I love working with lace weight and fingering weight yarn, true I’m knitting more stitches than using worsted weight yarn, but it doesn’t matter, I like the looks more.

This scarf, isn’t a new work in progress, I started knitting the Chevron scarf weeks ago, but due to my schedule and other crochet and knitting WIPS, I haven’t made too much progress. I’m using my Hiya Hiya size 3/3.25mm needles for this project, and it’s coming along quite nicely.

 Chevron aka Zig-Zag stitch

This scarf is a four row repeat. The ripple effect is done by knitting two stitches together (k2tog) and in the next set of stitches you knit into the front and back (kfb) of the same stitches. Simple yes… but the effect is lovely, and the variegated yarn captures it beautifully. The above video isn’t the exact pattern, but it gives you an idea of how to create the chevron stitch aka zig-zag stitch.

 

I had my first unpleasant experience with Knit Picks yarn. The yarn seen in the top corner; Knit Picks: Stroll Hand Painted Yarn; Juice Box, arrived in a hank and there were two sections of tangles in it… after working with it for several minutes I just cut out those sections. Since the two sections of tangles were quite large I most likely will call Knit Picks customer service after the holidays. Their customer service is amazing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they send me another hank of the same yarn for free. we’ll see….

 

 

My Hiya Hiya Sharp (steel) needles do a great job knitting two (or more) together effortlessly… My Knit Picks did fine with k2tog, but my Hiya Hiya Sharps has the advantage here since its longer taper makes the process of picking up numerous stitches (I’ve knitted five at a time) much easier than what I experienced when attempting the same thing with my Knit Picks needles.

Survivor: The Search is Over

O, my daughter’s best friend, loves owls….

 

A few weeks ago she was wearing a knitted owl hat made by her grandmother. It was gorgeous, there was a lot of detail going on with that hat. It just screamed, I’m a handcrafted hat! I complemented her on the lovely hat. She smiled and said thanks. O appreciates, and loves, handcrafted items. I guess you can say that she’s been ‘trained well.’ her mom is an amazing seamstress,  and she does a variety of crafts (making sure she includes O.) Both of her grandmothers are crafty too.

I don’t mind making things for her since I know she’ll appreciate them. When it comes to giving something to someone else, I always try to get them something I know that they’ll like. Sometimes that takes a bit of thought, you know? I know O fairly well, she’s been to our house many times, and I chat with her & tease her a lot. Becuase of this, I have a fairly good idea about the colors she likes. So it was easy to choose some washable wool for this simple owl. Here in the USA, owls can be found on many items; stationery, clothing, gadgets, etc. July 2012, I’d knitted an owl hat and cowl for my daughter. She loved them, and was disappointed that she had to wait until it was a bit cooler. 😉

The owl was knit in the round using my size 5 Hiya Hiya needles. I’m a fast knitter so it took less than an hour to make. Next time, I’ll drop down to a size 3.

Knitting: Three needle bind off

I used the three needle bind off at it’s head. My daughter attached the eyes, and I embroidered the nose. My daughter also wrapped the gift, added a cute Beanie Baby dog, and an ornament that she’d made. She personalized it with one of the lovely Christmas gift tags that Q mentioned on her site. I printed the tags on green card stock. My daughter chose the angel, and added a bit of glitter glue to it’s halo and wings. I completely forgot to take pictures, but I’ll be sure to take some today, since we’ll be wrapping more gifts.

O received her gifts yesterday. Yesterday, my daughter’s Lutheran school let out early, and so my daughter went over to her house for a play date. My daughter said the owl was a big success, along with the other gifts. I have another gift for O, but that will take a bit longer. I’m knitting her the hopsalot slippers. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work on them during my vacation.

In a society where many look for name brands/designer labels… it’s so nice that my daughters friends appreciate all items, handcrafted items are met with the same enthusiasm as anything else. Which is how it should be…

 

In other news…

It’s been extremely busy, more busier than normal, since not only do I still work for myself… I also picked up some work outside of the home but on a part time basis. The past few weeks have gone by in a blur… it’s been that busy.  I’m still managing to squeeze in some craft time, even if it’s only a few minutes daily.

I was pleased to note that the Hiya Hiya Sharp large set is now available. The needles in that set range from size 9 all the way to 15.

And while I mainly knit with small needles; 000 – 4. I do (occasionally) knit items with much larger needles and bulky yarn. The majority of the projects I make using large hooks/needles/bulky yarn are created for my daughter. If it wasn’t for her, I most likely wouldn’t purchase the set.

Of course, I could purchase them now but since I put limits on my wants I’ll hold off until early 2013. I guess you could say that my Knit Picks needles are a distant memory. The truth is, I haven’t touched them once I received my first Hiya Hiya needles in the mail. My Knit Picks interchangeables might work perfectly for my daughter. She has expressed an interest in knitting so this might make a great starter set for her.

I’m really impressed with the needles. Some Hiya Hiya reps have set up a few forums on Ravelry. One of the Hiya Hiya Reps, Qianer Huang, is also a designer. I must say that it’s nice to see that Hiya Hiya reps have an active presence within those groups. Last week, I posted a comment on the Hiya Hiya wish list. My question was answered within hours by someone from the company. I like good customer service.

I still plan on writing a review about the Hiya Hiyas (eventually) but I’m giving myself plenty of time to test drive them before that happens.

 

Once I purchase the large Hiya Hiya set, I’ll be sure to buy bulky yarn. I rarely keep a large supply of that in my stash. I’ll then pick up the size 11 circular needles and cast on the above Sylvi project. I adored this cloak the moment I set eyes upon it this spring. I mentioned it’s a cloak right? I love cloaks/shawls.

I honestly think that it has an Elvish vibe to it, don’t you? I could easily see Arwen wearing something such as the Sylvi cloak.

 

In Lord of the Rings many of her outfits were long/flowing and so I imagine her version would be much longer. Since I love the same type of outerwear, I’ll make mine longer and do believe I’ll change the sleeves to be wider, and perhaps have an added feminine touch… we’ll see. Naturally, I’ll hand sew a gorgeous lining into the cloak. This way, I can wear it when the weather gets cold. Of course, this means my modified version will take much longer to knit and sew. It also means that I might be frogging the parts that I modify until I get them ‘just right’ but I’m in no rush. This will be a truly enjoyable knitting journey.

 

In other news…

I have plenty of works in progress both crocheted and knitting. I was able to experiment with crochet colorwork thanks to Sarah’s lovely pattern test. It’s been a extremely busy weekend for my daughter with piano recitals, singing at our Lutheran church, so I’m not sure if I’ll get to post my crochet or knitted projects today… hopefully I’ll be able to do that tomorrow.

A few weeks ago, I ordered my daughter Elfquest, volume III via Amazon. It’s in hardcover, and the storeline/artwork is simply amazing.

Elfquest, is an amazing comic book series that I discovered when I was about twelve years old. I cherished those comics, and kept them in pristine condition. I’d have them to this day (like all my other books/comics), if my mother hadn’t decided they were ‘evil’ because the elves performed magic, and promptly burned them. I was beyond upset when that happened. And while I still don’t understand the logic behind that, I’ve let it go…

The good news is, in my early twenties, I did replace those original comics via ebay, since they were the first comics and in mint condition, they didn’t come cheap… but I now have them back in my collection. Since the volume I purchased for my daughter is just a reproduction, I didn’t spend hundreds of dollars for it (like I did the original comics) I spent a little under $23.

 

 

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Fairy Castles by Tiny Owl Knits. It’s knitted and then felted. I love it! My 9yo daughter is a talented artist, and most of her drawings are fantasy inspired.  I know she’d love this, and since she is an active crocheter, this case makes a lovely way for her to store her crochet hooks. I’m still hunting for the perfect crochet hook set for her.

I must say that Tiny Owl Knits is one of my favorite knitting designers. Her work, is whimsical, and many of the items looks like it sprung out of a fairy tale. Did I ever tell you that I love fairy tales? I’ve even written my own, although I’ve never shared them here… but my daughter seems to like them. I have the yarn, all I need is to find the time, once the crocheted hat is completed.

You know, I thought I was finished creating  all my crafting presents for Christmas! But perhaps I’ll cast on another project for my daughter, one more time…

Photo Source: Tiny Owl Knits