Tag: knitting

Knitted cable purse; style

Aynaria 4 Comments

A few days ago, I mentioned that I’m working on a knitted cable purse. Although I’m not a purse person, this one really appealed to me…

The simple cable design, combined with the contrast (white purse accented with a black bow)  drew me in, and I saved the .pdf pattern for the knitted Christine bag.

When I saved it to my queue, I had no intention of working on it while I was on vacation, but somewhere down the line, I knew I’d be casting it on, but I had no idea it would be this soon. I worked on it the past few days, several (stupid) mistakes were made. Such as the repeat of one of the cables I was making. It took me about five attempts (which is about six rows) before I finally paid attention and got it right. You’d have thought that I’d be more attentive after the first few froggings (ripping out stitches) but that didn’t happen. 😉

Of course, I brought my knitting needles with me on vacation. Crochet or knitting, is a perfect pastime, when sitting around visiting with family.

Oh by the way… I found the amazing  knitted Christine bag on Ravelry! Ravelry is my favorite crochet and knitted website; so many patterns, and not enough time to do all the ones I adore. That was about a month ago. This bag, is one of numerous purses, (crochet and knit) that I browsed on that site, and it’s the one that appealed to me the most.

Christine bag knitted cable purse 3

My knitted cable purse; it’s almost completed. Yeah!

The above picture, shows the almost completed purse. I still need to line the bag, attach handles, and I’m thinking I’ll add a bow– but it’ll be knitted silk blend.

I’m deviating from the pattern slightly in that I’m not using chunky yarn. I’m also not using the suggested size 15 or 19 knitting needles. Instead, I’m using worsted weight yarn, and size eight circular knitting needles. Additionally, I won’t be using wooden handles; I chose to make handles by making a knitted i-cord.

How to make an i-cord

I-Cord is durable, and I’ll increase its durability by using two strands of the worsted yarn. Since this bag was made with cotton there aren’t any special care instructions for it. I consider this a test bag. I wanted to check out the pattern, before I moved onto more delicate yarn such as silk, cashmere, or a wool blend.

The lining will be hand sewn into the knitted purse, and even though I have zippers at home, I’ll be purchasing a metal zipper. I’m thinking I might add a pocket on the inside also.

I already have ideas about the next purse, beads will be included, and perhaps I’ll add a knitted design too. I’m thinking of using a metallic yarn for that, I’m undecided on what colors though. Also, I’m thinking of making the inside look as pretty as the outside. Which in the next purses case, means some type of embroidery. Pretty on the inside and outside, is a motto I use when I design clothes, so why wouldn’t I do this with my crochet and knitted items too? I’m going to deviate from the pattern a lot, so it won’t look like the original idea at all, but the inspiration came from knitting the Christine bag. 😉

If you’re unsure about seaming, check out the designer’s instructions for seaming and attaching handles for the knitted Christine bag, while it’s not new to me, since I’ve made numerous bags before, I do believe her instructions will be extremely helpful to someone new to this process. The instructions are straightforward, and she provides pictures too.

In other news…

My four-year old cousin was pleased when I crocheted a beanie hat, for her Dora doll, last evening. It took about thirty minutes to make. She was playing with my nine-year old daughter, but took regular breaks to check out the hat progress. You should have seen the big smile on her face, once it was complete. That happens to be her favorite doll. She even sleeps with her. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to snap a few photos of Dora rocking her crocheted beanie hat, sometime today.

Knitted ribbed beanie hat; complete but it’s missing something

Aynaria 3 Comments

It didn’t take long to finish knitting the ribbed beanie hat. I only had about five rows to do after all, and it was all decrease rows.

Knitted beanie hat patterntest 2 06 29 12

Afterwards I washed the hat, but I think it’s missing something. I most likely will add some type of crocheted embellishment to this knitted hat.

Knitted beanie hat patterntest 1 06 29 12

I like the style, but the next time I make it I’ll be adding my own twist to this pattern test. 

I won’t be pattern testing anything for a while, instead the next few months I’ll be devoting my time to some of the crocheted and knitted projects that are on my to handcrafted list. Before you know it, Christmas will be here. I have no intentions of making several hand-crafted items at the last minute. All my hand-crafted gifts should be complete by October 2012.

End is near; knitted ribbed beanie hat

Aynaria 1 Comment

The knitted ribbed beanie hat is almost complete, I should have it finished in about an hour.

I added green lifelines to this knitted beanie hat, and once the knitted hat is completed, I’ll be yanking them out.

Knitted beanie hat 1 06 29 12

And since it’s pouring down rain outside, it looks as though my daughter and I might be inside today… if it doesn’t stop raining. Personally I hope it stops raining. We both love being outdoors, and I’d love to cut the grass later today.

Hooks and Needles; downtime projects

Aynaria 4 Comments

So… I’m coming to the end of my latest pattern test, and I’ve told myself not to volunteer for anything else until August..

Yeah, we’ll see how that goes.

In my defense some of the crocheted and knitted patterns that I’ve tested (over the past seven months) have been added to my Christmas list, a few were given to my daughter and her classmates, and some of the items I pattern tested were donated to a few local charities where I’m actively involved.

Items like the crocheted bookworm bookmarks, weren’t from a pattern tests, but were inspired by watching a crochet designers bookmarks, and thinking back to the bookmarks I received as a child. So no pattern test with those, just made them based on my childhood memories. The bookworms were made for my daughter and her third grade class, the majority of them love to read I might add, how cool is that? At her age, I was reading at high school level, my daughter is doing the same.

So… for my Christmas list, it means since some of the pattern tested items were made as gifts, that’s one less item for me to make. Yeah!

At the speed I’m going, I should be finished my handcrafted items before October is over. I still need to make holiday cards for the upcoming holidays; Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas… but those are a lot easier to make, thanks to my Cuttlebug, awesome collection of stamps (traditional and digital), and a super creative mommy and daughter duo (my daughter and I).

When I need a break from some of my larger projects, like the knitted Coraline sweater I’ll be making for my daughter, or the knitted Guernsey sweater I’ll be knitting for my father, I’ll be adding washcloths/dishcloths to the mix. Both are the perfect size to try out new design ideas, and the result is I have a product that I can use, or gift to someone else.

Downtime projects; crocheted and knitted dishcloths and washcloths

I’ve always adored hand crocheted and knitted dishcloths/washcloths over the typical store bought variety. I found them to be a lot thicker, and more absorbant. My hand-crocheted and knitted washcloths also do a great job of gently exfoliating the skin. My dishcloths are excellent in cleaning utensils where common kitchen scrubbers are a No-No. They’re made from 100% cotton after all.

Before I use them, or send them or gift them to others… I always toss them in the wash a few times, to get rid of the residue that the store bought yarn is treated with during processing. Those who receive them as gifts, have always clamored for more, and raved about how much they like them more than the store bought variety.

How long does it take to make crocheted or knitted washcloths/dishcloths?

The knitting variety usually takes between one to six hours to create depending on the complexity, yarn, and needles used.  Crochet (usually)takes a lot less. My preference is the knitted variety. Mainly because I find them to be more stretchy, which I adore. But, I love the crocheted ones also, and have made several of those when trying out new stitches/design ideas.

While I’m not sure when I’ll be posting a washcloth/dishcloth giveaway, eventually I’ll do one here at Celebrate Life. It most likely will be towards Autumn, by that time my soapmaking days (for the year at least) will be over, and I can include that in my giveaway.

Knitted amigurumi

Aynaria Leave a comment

The first amigurumi’s I made were crocheted earlier this year, but it wasn’t the first time I’d heard about them.

I’d discovered them through an amazing knitter who makes exquisite amigurumi dolls. She’s the most talented amigurumi doll artists I’ve seen thus far.  In fact, the moment my daughter saw the dolls she asked me if I could make some for her.

Initially I was planning on doing that, but the more I thought about it…  I  realized that perhaps I my first amigurumi items should be crocheted. After all, I accomplished a lot of  my “handcrafted yarn firsts” with knitting; sweaters, socks, pillows, glove, and hats. Which make sense, I have been knitting for thirty-three years but since I learned only to crochet in December 2011, there weren’t to many items that I hadn’t knitted.

Because of this, I decided crochet would get the first crack at amigurumis…

And so began my love of amigurumi, although it’s only been seven months since I started crocheting, I’ve easily made over forty amigurumi items, some were given to my daughter, while others were handed out to her classmates and the rest were donated to various local charities. It feels great.

While I know I could easily go to the store and purchase the item, which would reduce my time with the item. I enjoy the time I spend with each item, since I look at it as a “labor of love” since I’m taking time out of my busy schedule to make something for someone else.

Next week, I most likely will start working on a few amigurumi dolls while my daughter and I area away for the holidays. Of course she’ll be my tester, I’ll give her the first few knitted dolls, once I’m comfortable knitting amigurumis, I’ll start adding those to my list of items to gift to others. Soon, I’ll be making another crocheted, or perhaps knitted, Coraline. My daughter’s best friend saw hers, and I know she wants one for herself. And while she’s much to polite to come out and ask, she did make a point of telling me how awesome it was.

I just returned from a board meeting, but I’m sure sometime this evening, after my daughter is sleeping, I’ll flip though some of the knitted amigurumi doll patterns that I’d located earlier today, and I’ll most likely will work on the knitted beanie hat, before I go to bed.

Knitted ribbed beanie hat progress

Aynaria 4 Comments

Do you remember the silly mistakes I made with the knitted beanie hat?

Hopefully the knitted beanie hat mistakes are behind me. I did make another simple mistake yesterday. Instead of doing 3″ of the brim color, I went ahead and did 5″.

Knitted ridged beanie hat 2 new

I included the large brim in the above picture, shortly afterwards I frogged it back to 3″. The purple isn’t part of the design, those are my lifelines, in case of a mistake (like was made here) I just have to frog (rip out stitches) to where it’s mistake free, or in this case frog to 3″.

In my defense I do like making the ridge stitch. It’s simple and elegant. After ripping out the stitches, I immediately proceeded to add one more row of that color, before switching to purple for the crown.

You could say this was a teachable moment, since I used this opportunity to talk with my nine-year old daughter about mistakes, and how we all make them. Instead of giving up, we should continue trying until we get it right. It sounds simple enough right? Amazingly a lot of people give up on many things, because they weren’t able to master something, early.

The reality is there are many things in life that will take a lot of practice before you master the technique.

Gearing up for Christmas: knitted Guernsey sweater by Debbie Bliss; free pattern

Aynaria 8 Comments

Today in my Lutheran church, I noticed that we’re already starting to promote Operation Christmas Child, It’s nice to see this is something going on throughout the year, because lets face it… some families could use our help all year-round. A lot of the gifts for Operation Christmas Child, are sent to children in other countries, but there are plenty of children, and families, here in the USA that could use assistance, so I support them too.

The mention of Christmas in the church bulletin, made me think of my own Christmas list…

Of course I’ll be making handcrafted items for a few local charities, it’s something I’ve been doing for years, but I’ll also be making items for those I know too; if they’re craft worthy. At the top of my list is my nine-year old daughter, and my father comes next. He loves anything I make for him. This year I’m making him a few handcrafted items; a hat, scarf, mittens, socks, and I’m thinking of making him a traditional knitted Guernsey Sweater.

Before morning service, my online search landed me onto this page featuring a free guernsey knitted sweater by Debbie Bliss. Naturally, I saved and printed the .pdf file, and within the next week I’ll start working on the sweater. Since I’m starting on the sweater in advance, there’s really no need to rush, it will be one of my longer “works in progress”.

I’ll definitely use some type of wool for his sweater. Unlike myself, it doesn’t make him itch. While I could never wear the item, because of a rash that would develop from the wool I don’t have any problem crocheting or knitting something made out of wool. Perhaps it’s because the project only stays in my hand, and not other parts of my skin?

My father loves to be outside, even when the weather is cold, I know knitting him something such as this will be helpful in keeping him warm, and perhaps my mother won’t fuss about him coming in the house.

Interesting knitting tidbit: Did you know that many historians believe that men created knitting?