I realize that I have only posted about knitting things on here up to now. I do do other crafts, I swear. I just haven't done any of them lately (except for sewing some awesome striped cafe curtains for a friend that I didn't think to post about but now I sort of wonder...).
Anyway, if I haven't mentioned it before, I happen to live in a college town. It's a university town, really, so the school is quite large. While this is frustrating when, say, the dorms open and the whole town is flooded with people it is overall awesome. We get all the fun of school amenities (sporting events, nice libraries, mass-transit) without having to take classes. One of the amenities that I am most fond of is the school's "creative space" which is called The Workspace. For the record, it is where I also took the class on lace knitting and chemical dyeing I mentioned a couple of months ago. I have taken classes on chain maille jewelry, stained glass, and glass etching there also. I'm a big fan.
This past weekend I took a class at The Workspace about making natural soaps. That is "natural" as in "no glycerin," meaning they didn't just use those weird clear pellets available at most hobby stores. This was actually a blending of sodium hydroxide (lye) and hard and soft fats to provide moisture, then adding essential oils to make it smell nice. It was interesting in a very chemistry-heavy way, making an emulsifying mixture that will harden at proper temperatures and not react with skin. And yeah, while my education and job are both VERY humanities-focused, I do enjoy the Fun with Chemistry projects in my free time. ;-)
I would post pictures of my soap, but it's still waiting to be cut at the moment so it mostly looks like Cream of Wheat in a container at the moment. Expect to see some spa-inspired knitting projects to accompany the soap on here in the future, though, and perhaps my own adventures in non-controlled-environment (meaning "at home") soap-making.
I'm also taking a macrame class next month, so wait with eager anticipation for updates about knotted plant-hangers.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Honeycomb Blanket Finished!
OK, so this blanket was actually done a bit ago and I diligently took pictures, but I haven't had time to post anything about it. April was just that kind of month. I think start-to-finish the blanket took me like 6 weeks to make, evening and weekend knitting, which is a long time for me. I was also very glad to get it done because I was afraid she would have the baby before I got this done, but I beat the buzzer on that one (phew!).
Anyway, the honeycomb blanket came out well! It was the Honeycomb Stroller Blanket knit in Knit Picks Swish DK and it is definitely a stroller blanket. I didn't measure it (been busy, remember?) but I would say it was probably like 32 inches by like 40 inches once it was blocked. And I would very much recommend blocking this project if you make it, because it really did make the whole thing look a lot better. While it isn't a giant blanket, I think it will be useful on a stroller or car seat, or used as a play pad on the floor.
Overall I was very happy with the colors and the way it came out. The colors (in order) were Lotus, Carnation, Peapod, and Marble Heather and the in-between and border color was Bark. I used one skein of each of the stripe colors and three skeins of Bark and had plenty for the whole project. These skein amounts gave me 7 color repeatitions and a 12-row border.
I slipped the first stitch in each row and then picked up those stitches for the border, giving me three color and one in-between stitch for the border pickup. The border was knit in the round, garter stitch, and I increased with YOs every purl row (two at each corner, 8 per row). Overall the border laid really nicely and I thought set off the whole blanket really well (it looks a bit ripply in the left photo because I used blocking wires, but it isn't ripply in real life).
This blanket went to one of Husband's coworkers (who I actually worked with also, once upon a time) and she was very happy to receive it. I guessed at colors, knowing only that she was having a girl, and ended up picking just the right ones for her nursery. Go me.
Anyway, the honeycomb blanket came out well! It was the Honeycomb Stroller Blanket knit in Knit Picks Swish DK and it is definitely a stroller blanket. I didn't measure it (been busy, remember?) but I would say it was probably like 32 inches by like 40 inches once it was blocked. And I would very much recommend blocking this project if you make it, because it really did make the whole thing look a lot better. While it isn't a giant blanket, I think it will be useful on a stroller or car seat, or used as a play pad on the floor.Overall I was very happy with the colors and the way it came out. The colors (in order) were Lotus, Carnation, Peapod, and Marble Heather and the in-between and border color was Bark. I used one skein of each of the stripe colors and three skeins of Bark and had plenty for the whole project. These skein amounts gave me 7 color repeatitions and a 12-row border.
This blanket went to one of Husband's coworkers (who I actually worked with also, once upon a time) and she was very happy to receive it. I guessed at colors, knowing only that she was having a girl, and ended up picking just the right ones for her nursery. Go me.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Dyeing Sock Blank with Easter Egg Dye
I took a class on dyeing yarn because I was intrigued by the process. I read somewhere too that yarn could be dyed with Easter Egg dye tablets, so that seemed like a decent experience. I ordered a sock blank on a bit of a whim and decided that now was as good a time as any to try at-home dyeing with dye tablets. And because it took me a number of Google searches and some trial-and-error to work this out, I figured I would tell others how I did this. Note that I also dyed eggs with the dye, though you could easily skip that step. So behold! How to dye a sock blank with Easter Egg dye!
You will need:
*Yarn or sock blank to dye (I used the bare sock blank from Knitpicks, available here)
*Easter Egg dye tablets (I used PAAS)
*Clothes you wouldn't mind being splattered with dye
*Hard-boiled eggs
*Water
*White vinegar
*Measuring cup
*Tablespoon measuring spoon
*Cups for dye-mixing and egg-dyeing (capacity at least 1 cup)
*Latex gloves
*Large bowl or bucket for soaking
*Squeeze bottles (one for each color of dye you intend to use)
*Plastic cling wrap
*Vinyl table covering
*Flat surface in a well-ventilated area
*Gallon-sized zippered plastic bag
*Microwave
*Towels or salad spinner
*Place to dry yarn
1. Assemble all the things you will need in your well-ventilated area. I used a plastic card table set out on my patio. Cover your table with the vinyl table covering.
2. In your large bowl or bucket, mix about 6 tablespoons of water with about 6 cups of water. Drop in your yarn or sock blank and press the yarn or blank into the water-vinegar mixture. Note that, if you are using yarn, it needs to be wound in a large loop (most bare yarn will come this way) and tied every few inches to prevent mess while dyeing. Since I used a blank, I just dropped it in.
Allow your yarn or blank to sit until bubbles stop coming out of it. Most sites say 20 minutes for this. I don't think it really takes that long, but in the meantime I dyed eggs.
3. Mix the dye tablets with vinegar and then water according to package directions. I mixed tablets with 3 tablespoons of vinegar and then added 1/2 cup water once the tablet was dissolved. Dye eggs normally, according to package directions and your own preferences.
I only had 6 egg cups, so I decided on my color palette before actually mixing the dye. I went with purple, denim, teal, green, and spring green for the blank. The red was just to have a sixth dye.
4. Because it was difficult to tell the difference between the similar color in the egg cups, I ended up laying out the dyes and eggs as a color palette. The eggs also give a decent idea of what the dye will look like on the yarn, so they can help give you an idea of how your colors will look together.
5. Once your eggs are dyed and the bubbles have stopped appearing from your yarn or blank, you are ready to dye the yarn. Remove the yarn or blank from the water-vinegar mixture and CAREFULLY squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Be sure to treat your yarn gently in this stage, as wool is delicate when wet. Do not wring out your yarn or pull it strongly.
Your yarn should be damp when you apply the dye.
6. Put on your latex gloves.
Carefully pour the dye from the cups into the squeeze bottles. You can use a funnel for this, but I didn't. Be sure that you know what dye is in what bottle. For mine, I made sure to place the squeeze bottle in the same palette position (next to the appropriate dyed egg) as the cup was. Tightly screw lids onto squeeze bottles.
7. Cut a piece of plastic cling wrap long enough to go under your yarn or blank. Spread cling wrap flat on your work surface.
Spread your blank or yarn out on the plastic cling wrap. My table ended up being shorter than my blank, so I folded the blank in half. By putting the two unravel edges together and matching the edges, I will end up with a blank that is dyed in a mirror-image. Be sure not to stretch the yarn out too much.
8. Squeeze dye onto the blank or yarn in your desired pattern. I worked from the unraveled edges up, but any way is fine. Squeeze on one line of color and work it in by patting with your fingers. The dye might spread a bit as you pat, but that is fine. Be sure not to put too much dye on at once or your stripes will spread and grow as you pat the color in. Apply extra dye as needed to fill in any lighter areas, but always be sparing with your dye. More dye doesn't always equal more color; it can just mean more mess.
9. Continue applying dye stripes until you reach the end of the blank or yarn. I had plenty of dye for a whole blank from 5 tablets.
You might notice as you dye that the stripes aren't blending as you like. I ended up overlapping the colors a bit to give a "blending" look, but the stripes originally were fairly distinct. My dyeing class taught me that this is not uncommon with superwash yarn. The colors might also look unexciting on the blank or yarn, but this will change once the dye is set. For example, you can't really tell which stripe at the left is purple but don't worry, it will come out later.
10. Once your whole blank or yarn is dyed, roll it up so that the like colors are together. During the setting process dye can migrate, so you want the like colors next to each other for this. For my blank, I rolled it up lengthwise so that the stripes were all lined up together.
Use the plastic cling wrap under your yarn or blank to help you roll up your project, then wrap the project in the cling wrap. You might get some dye seepage around the cling wrap, which is why your work surface should be covered with something waterproof like vinyl.
11. Roll your project roll up like a coiled snake. This should give you a compact round coil to heat for the setting process.
12. Place the yarn or blank project coil in a zippered plastic bag. The bag should be plenty large to fit your project.
At this point, you can take off your latex gloves. I also started cleaning up my work area once I had the dye heat-setting.
13. Place the zippered bag with your project on a plate in your microwave. Be absolutely certain that your bag is NOT zippered closed. Heating your yarn or blank with produce a great deal of steam and you want all of that steam to escape.
Microwave your dyed project on high for 4 minutes. Allow it to cool enough until you can touch the bag, then flip the zippered bag over and microwave for 4 minutes more. Your yarn is done once you can press it and not see dye pool. If needed, flip again and microwave again until no dye pools when pressed.
14. Allow the dye project to cool until you can handle it safely. I cannot stress enough that your yarn project will be extremely hot and will smell like hot vinegar. This is normal, but I recommend having your window open while you microwave and cool your yarn or blank. Also, be aware that your microwave will smell like vinegar for a couple of uses, but it will fade.
While the dyed yarn is cooling, fill your large bowl or bucket with water. See Note on Step 15 for information about water temperature.
15. Take the yarn out of the plastic zippered bag and begin to remove the plastic cling wrap. My yarn blank was still pretty hot, so I removed the yarn from the cling wrap directly into the bucket.
Note that your water temperature will depend on your yarn. If you are using superwash yarn, any water temperature will do. If you are not using superwash, your water MUST be the same temperature as the yarn to start or your yarn will shock and felt. For non-superwash yarn, you need to start with hot water, then cool the yarn with progressively-cooler water.
16. Allow your yarn to sit in the water until the yarn is completely cooled. I left mine for about 30 minutes in cool water. Move the yarn or blank around in order to rinse it thoroughly. You are trying to cool the yarn down and also rinse the vinegar out of the yarn. If your yarn still smells like vinegar after one rinse, rinse it again in clean water.
17. Dump the water out of your bucket or bowl and squeeze the yarn. Like last time, you want to do this without wringing or stretching. I used a towel to squeeze out water, but a salad spinner would also work. With the towel I laid the towel out, rolled the yarn up in the towel, then stepped on it to squeeze out yarn without stretching. For a spinner, place the yarn or blank in the basket and spin until water stops coming out of the project.
18. Hang your yarn up to dry on a water-resistant bar. Your yarn can dry overnight or take a number of days to dry, based on temperature and humidity. Be sure to move it periodically so the yarn does not stretch and so it dries evenly. Also be sure to put something (newspapers, towel) beneath the yarn to catch drips. Since it has been saturated with water, the project will drip water for a while no matter how well you dried it before hanging.
You will need:
*Yarn or sock blank to dye (I used the bare sock blank from Knitpicks, available here)
*Easter Egg dye tablets (I used PAAS)
*Clothes you wouldn't mind being splattered with dye
*Hard-boiled eggs
*Water
*White vinegar
*Measuring cup
*Tablespoon measuring spoon
*Cups for dye-mixing and egg-dyeing (capacity at least 1 cup)
*Latex gloves
*Large bowl or bucket for soaking
*Squeeze bottles (one for each color of dye you intend to use)
*Plastic cling wrap
*Vinyl table covering
*Flat surface in a well-ventilated area
*Gallon-sized zippered plastic bag
*Microwave
*Towels or salad spinner
*Place to dry yarn
1. Assemble all the things you will need in your well-ventilated area. I used a plastic card table set out on my patio. Cover your table with the vinyl table covering. 
2. In your large bowl or bucket, mix about 6 tablespoons of water with about 6 cups of water. Drop in your yarn or sock blank and press the yarn or blank into the water-vinegar mixture. Note that, if you are using yarn, it needs to be wound in a large loop (most bare yarn will come this way) and tied every few inches to prevent mess while dyeing. Since I used a blank, I just dropped it in.
Allow your yarn or blank to sit until bubbles stop coming out of it. Most sites say 20 minutes for this. I don't think it really takes that long, but in the meantime I dyed eggs.
I only had 6 egg cups, so I decided on my color palette before actually mixing the dye. I went with purple, denim, teal, green, and spring green for the blank. The red was just to have a sixth dye.
Your yarn should be damp when you apply the dye.
Carefully pour the dye from the cups into the squeeze bottles. You can use a funnel for this, but I didn't. Be sure that you know what dye is in what bottle. For mine, I made sure to place the squeeze bottle in the same palette position (next to the appropriate dyed egg) as the cup was. Tightly screw lids onto squeeze bottles.
Spread your blank or yarn out on the plastic cling wrap. My table ended up being shorter than my blank, so I folded the blank in half. By putting the two unravel edges together and matching the edges, I will end up with a blank that is dyed in a mirror-image. Be sure not to stretch the yarn out too much.
You might notice as you dye that the stripes aren't blending as you like. I ended up overlapping the colors a bit to give a "blending" look, but the stripes originally were fairly distinct. My dyeing class taught me that this is not uncommon with superwash yarn. The colors might also look unexciting on the blank or yarn, but this will change once the dye is set. For example, you can't really tell which stripe at the left is purple but don't worry, it will come out later.
Use the plastic cling wrap under your yarn or blank to help you roll up your project, then wrap the project in the cling wrap. You might get some dye seepage around the cling wrap, which is why your work surface should be covered with something waterproof like vinyl.
At this point, you can take off your latex gloves. I also started cleaning up my work area once I had the dye heat-setting.
Microwave your dyed project on high for 4 minutes. Allow it to cool enough until you can touch the bag, then flip the zippered bag over and microwave for 4 minutes more. Your yarn is done once you can press it and not see dye pool. If needed, flip again and microwave again until no dye pools when pressed.
While the dyed yarn is cooling, fill your large bowl or bucket with water. See Note on Step 15 for information about water temperature.
Note that your water temperature will depend on your yarn. If you are using superwash yarn, any water temperature will do. If you are not using superwash, your water MUST be the same temperature as the yarn to start or your yarn will shock and felt. For non-superwash yarn, you need to start with hot water, then cool the yarn with progressively-cooler water.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Baby blankets seem like such a good idea
I am one of those people who doesn't like to make the same pattern twice, unless there is some reason to do so. So even though I like all the baby things I have made before, when Husband told me one of his coworkers was having a baby, there wasn't really a go-to pattern that I immediately pulled out. We debated for a bit about what to give and ultimately decided on a baby blanket because it would be in use longer than any article of clothing.
We also debated patterns and then colors for a bit and ended up with the Honeycomb Stroller Blanket from Ravelry. The pattern looked easy enough but still interesting and it allowed for multiple colors, something I liked. Based on the projects listed using the pattern, I decided on four colors of the Knit Picks Swish DK: Lotus, Carnation, Peapod, and Marble Heather. This gave me two shades of pink (coworker is having a girl) and a good bright green as well as a grey to tone it all down. I picked Bark (dark brown) to do the honeycomb parts and the border, which I think makes it look pretty modern.
The pattern and the yarn work alright together. The yarn is thicker than the pattern called for (pattern was for sport, supposedly) and I am knitting it on 8s, which is smaller than the pattern called for (10s), and I still find the knitting to be plenty loose. I pull my yarn really tight, so 8s for me are probably the same gauge as 7s for other knitters. It looks nice so far.
Here's my beef with this project, though: it's taking a really long time. I work full-time, so I only knit in the evenings really. Even on that time frame, I can usually knock out a smaller project (a pair of socks, mittens, booties, etc) in about a week or so. I have been knitting on this baby blanket for 3 weeks now and it still isn't done. Not even just the border isn't done, the blanket part itself isn't done. I am overall used to knitting being instant-gratification, so doing a project that takes this long isn't sitting very well with me. Right now I am about half done with the sixth color repeat (people knitting with this yarn in this pattern tell me I can expect seven color repeats) and I frankly can't wait for this project to be done. It isn't even that my next project will be that exciting; I just want to finish this one.
At least the baby the blanket goes to isn't due until June. If the blanket is going to take a month to make, at least I started it early enough that the month isn't pushing it.
We also debated patterns and then colors for a bit and ended up with the Honeycomb Stroller Blanket from Ravelry. The pattern looked easy enough but still interesting and it allowed for multiple colors, something I liked. Based on the projects listed using the pattern, I decided on four colors of the Knit Picks Swish DK: Lotus, Carnation, Peapod, and Marble Heather. This gave me two shades of pink (coworker is having a girl) and a good bright green as well as a grey to tone it all down. I picked Bark (dark brown) to do the honeycomb parts and the border, which I think makes it look pretty modern.
The pattern and the yarn work alright together. The yarn is thicker than the pattern called for (pattern was for sport, supposedly) and I am knitting it on 8s, which is smaller than the pattern called for (10s), and I still find the knitting to be plenty loose. I pull my yarn really tight, so 8s for me are probably the same gauge as 7s for other knitters. It looks nice so far.
Here's my beef with this project, though: it's taking a really long time. I work full-time, so I only knit in the evenings really. Even on that time frame, I can usually knock out a smaller project (a pair of socks, mittens, booties, etc) in about a week or so. I have been knitting on this baby blanket for 3 weeks now and it still isn't done. Not even just the border isn't done, the blanket part itself isn't done. I am overall used to knitting being instant-gratification, so doing a project that takes this long isn't sitting very well with me. Right now I am about half done with the sixth color repeat (people knitting with this yarn in this pattern tell me I can expect seven color repeats) and I frankly can't wait for this project to be done. It isn't even that my next project will be that exciting; I just want to finish this one.
At least the baby the blanket goes to isn't due until June. If the blanket is going to take a month to make, at least I started it early enough that the month isn't pushing it.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Spring!
2011-2012 has been a really strange winter around my area. We normally have very hard winters, but this year there has hardly been a week without 1-2 days in the 40s. There have been a few impressive rain storms that would have been serious snow had they been snow, but overall we are warm and entering spring with a drought. This weather is confusing to me and it certainly seems to be confusing to my bulbs, which are now sprouted 1-2 inches tall around my house. This is very strange for March.
Anyway, seeing these sprouted plants makes me focus on spring crafts. I finished my lacework scarf that I had been working on for a while and won't get the yarn order for my next project until tomorrow, so a filler project is in order. Perhaps multiple filler projects.
I decided to make the Egg to Bird and Nest pattern from my craft library. Since it is small, it probably won't take that long. In fact, I knocked out the white egg portion yesterday in about 90 minutes and am now almost done with the bird body. I originally wasn't planning on making the nest, but it seems like I will have time so I might as well. This project will be an Easter gift for my niece, who will be 8 months old by then. I know that she will be too young to turn the egg into a bird and back again, but I thought she would enjoy watching someone else do it. Plus I really like giving knitted toys to babies, since they don't have small parts to detach and they are soft (and, depending on the yarn, washable).
Aside from small projects simply taking less time, this one will also (hopefully) use up stash yarn. Originally I bought Knit Picks Swish Worsted for a baby hippo I made for a friend's baby. I had a bunch of Dusk (navy) and Serrano (red) left from that project, so I bought White and used it for the Olympic Hat for my husband. That used all the Dusk, but I now have White and Serrano left. Making the egg almost took all the White and now I am hoping to have enough Serrano left to make the whole bird. The nest will be Wool of the Andes leftover from socks I made for Christmas gifts, which I am also hoping to have enough of to finish. Stash knitting can be very stressful.
Anyway, seeing these sprouted plants makes me focus on spring crafts. I finished my lacework scarf that I had been working on for a while and won't get the yarn order for my next project until tomorrow, so a filler project is in order. Perhaps multiple filler projects.
I decided to make the Egg to Bird and Nest pattern from my craft library. Since it is small, it probably won't take that long. In fact, I knocked out the white egg portion yesterday in about 90 minutes and am now almost done with the bird body. I originally wasn't planning on making the nest, but it seems like I will have time so I might as well. This project will be an Easter gift for my niece, who will be 8 months old by then. I know that she will be too young to turn the egg into a bird and back again, but I thought she would enjoy watching someone else do it. Plus I really like giving knitted toys to babies, since they don't have small parts to detach and they are soft (and, depending on the yarn, washable).
Aside from small projects simply taking less time, this one will also (hopefully) use up stash yarn. Originally I bought Knit Picks Swish Worsted for a baby hippo I made for a friend's baby. I had a bunch of Dusk (navy) and Serrano (red) left from that project, so I bought White and used it for the Olympic Hat for my husband. That used all the Dusk, but I now have White and Serrano left. Making the egg almost took all the White and now I am hoping to have enough Serrano left to make the whole bird. The nest will be Wool of the Andes leftover from socks I made for Christmas gifts, which I am also hoping to have enough of to finish. Stash knitting can be very stressful.
Lacework
I just finished a class on yarn dyeing and lacework. While I really enjoyed the dyeing portion of the class, the lace knitting was slightly less fun. The pattern was the Leaf Lace Scarf on Ravelry and I made it out of the Bare Laceweight yarn from Knit Picks. Since the class also included dyeing yarn, I dyed this myself. It is yellow with orange and green (we decided it looked an awful lot like rainbow sherbet), mostly because those are nice bright colors that I like.
I certainly didn't pick a difficult project, but I just don't really think I am a lace sort of person. The project I picked was probably the least lacy I could have picked, without borders or anything, and I am still not sure it will ever get worn. There is certainly no judgement toward people who do enjoy lace, but that really isn't me. I don't wear shawls ever, and shawls seem to be the most interesting lace patterns. In all honesty, I could see myself at some point making a shawl just because they are pretty, fully knowing I will likely never use it. I also have never worn a cowl and can't imagine a situation when I would. I consider "dressed up" to be khakis and I think a job interview was the only time I wore hose all last year.
So I don't know how much I will really do with lacework. I consider no new skill to be a waste, though, so I'm sure I will have all kinds of fun with the skills I learned in class.
In the meantime, the pre-blocked scarf is pictured on the left. I will try to post about my adventures in blocking after I get my Knit Picks order this weekend and have actual blocking supplies.
I certainly didn't pick a difficult project, but I just don't really think I am a lace sort of person. The project I picked was probably the least lacy I could have picked, without borders or anything, and I am still not sure it will ever get worn. There is certainly no judgement toward people who do enjoy lace, but that really isn't me. I don't wear shawls ever, and shawls seem to be the most interesting lace patterns. In all honesty, I could see myself at some point making a shawl just because they are pretty, fully knowing I will likely never use it. I also have never worn a cowl and can't imagine a situation when I would. I consider "dressed up" to be khakis and I think a job interview was the only time I wore hose all last year.
In the meantime, the pre-blocked scarf is pictured on the left. I will try to post about my adventures in blocking after I get my Knit Picks order this weekend and have actual blocking supplies.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Month of Husband Knitting: Olympic Hat
I used the Olympic Reindeer Hat pattern available on Ravelry (it is a reproduction of the Polo hats worn by the US Olympic Team in 2010) and made it out of Swish Worsted Weight from Knit Picks (in Serrano, Dusk, and White). A number of people reported having problems with the decreases for this pattern, but I didn't have trouble with them. Using stitchmarkers at the quarters seems to have helped.
Overall this was a good pattern (read details on Ravelry here) though I cut a number of rows and the hat is still a little bit too tall. I like the colors and the reindeer, though. I actually made this as a way to use stash yarn leftover from another project, which worked really well. I would recommend having some experience with colorwork before trying this pattern because it has some very long carries that are hard on tension.
I think the hat looks nice (though I still need to block it to even out the colorwork) and will be very warm. All good things in the upper Midwest, where the weather makes winter accessories both a necessity and a fashion statement.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Month of Husband Knitting Update
On this Valentine's Day, I thought I would take a minute to update how my month of Husband knitting is going. I have one project finished and another started, though it is going a lot slower than I had hoped. I completed a pair of socks (read about it on Ravelry here) this past weekend and was pleased that they fit (though I did measure his foot and everything, you never really know until they are on). They weren't a surprise or anything, but I was glad to get them done by Valentine's Day. I also started a reproduction of the Team USA 2010 Reindeer Olympic Hat for Husband this past weekend. It is mostly made out of stash yarn, so my major concern now is having enough yarn. Getting it done by the end of the month would also be nice.
It seems sort of sad that I set aside an entire month (albeit a shorter one) for knitting Husband projects but halfway through have only finished one. Normally I can do a pair of socks in roughly a week, so two weeks for these socks is well behind my average. My regular full-time job has been crazy lately, though, and my extra job of teaching has also taken a lot of time. It is amazing to me how a few extra hours of work every day can impact every other aspect of my life (like knitting and sleeping).
Right now I am planning on seeing how long the hat takes and going from there. I have gloves hibernating that might get pulled out too.
It seems sort of sad that I set aside an entire month (albeit a shorter one) for knitting Husband projects but halfway through have only finished one. Normally I can do a pair of socks in roughly a week, so two weeks for these socks is well behind my average. My regular full-time job has been crazy lately, though, and my extra job of teaching has also taken a lot of time. It is amazing to me how a few extra hours of work every day can impact every other aspect of my life (like knitting and sleeping).
Right now I am planning on seeing how long the hat takes and going from there. I have gloves hibernating that might get pulled out too.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
New Class, New Project!
I enjoy taking classes. Yes, this includes college and grad school classes, but those days are behind me now. The classes I mostly take now are craft classes.
I'm a bit of an ADD crafter. Everything seems like a good idea when I am standing in the hobby store. Mostly I find this to be expensive, but there are some definite bonuses to being this way. Like I took a class on making Chain Maille jewelry and have a container of the supplies in my craft room, which means I can make my own stitch markers whenever I want and in whatever color I want/need. And my own stitchmarkers are much cheaper than what I would buy in the store.
But so far I have had very good luck with classes and learning new crafts. Once you start branching out on the craft spectrum, there is actually a lot of overlap. I have quilted since I was 12, so piecing together my own stained glass patterns was no problem at all for me. When I wanted to learn colorwork, I tried the YouTube route (I am overwhelmingly a visual learner) but still couldn't quite get it right. So I took a class in it and now am in love with stranded colorwork. I have heard that some people have trouble picking colors, but after years of quilting, sewing, and knitting I don't really.
The newest class I took on is two-fold. It is dedicated to teaching the process of dyeing yarn and then lacework. I am pretty interested in dyeing, since I love color in my knitting. I also am intrigued by lace knitting, though it's a tough sell for me. I am not, in general, a lacy person and I don't think I have ever worn a fashion scarf or shawl in my life. I like them, but dedicating the time to making something I know I won't use is tough. But lace patterns and the things they produce always look so pretty, so I thought I would give it a shot. I just need to find someone to give the finished product to.
Anyway, I dyed the yarn last week and it is now dry and ready to wind for use. The process itself was pretty easy (prep yarn, apply dye, heat-set dye, rinse and cool). My only wish was that I had thought out my colors a bit more before I started dyeing, but this is all pretty new to me so I basically just hope the yarn looks OK knitted up. I dyed two hanks, one lace-weight and one fingering that I plan to use for lacy socks. The lace weight is on the right and the fingering is on the left. I decided that I will make a scarf and it will be out of the yellow-orange-green laceweight for my mom. We'll see how this goes.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Cables and Eyelets Mitts
I posted another pattern on Ravelry today!
Months ago, I made a hat in the style of Hermione Granger's hat in the fifth Harry Potter movie (the one with eyelets and cables). Since I don't like to give just a hat to people, I worked out a pattern to make matching fingerless gloves. The pattern can be found here: Cables and Eyelets Mitts.
Happy Knitting!
Months ago, I made a hat in the style of Hermione Granger's hat in the fifth Harry Potter movie (the one with eyelets and cables). Since I don't like to give just a hat to people, I worked out a pattern to make matching fingerless gloves. The pattern can be found here: Cables and Eyelets Mitts.
Happy Knitting!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
February: Husband Month
I am pretty organized about my crafting (with the Google Docs spreadsheets to back that claim up) but I do tend to over-commit myself. Case-in-point, this year I organized my Christmas crafts in July, but still ended up scrambling the week before Christmas because I added 4 new projects in December (which needed to be done on top of the regular baking, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, shopping, and visits that accompany the holidays). I tend to have to cut projects and, inevitably, the projects that get cut are those for myself or my husband. As of now, I have made myself a hat/scarf set 10 years ago and that is it. Yes, that is the last project I completed for myself.
Husband fares slightly better. I made a hat for him 8 years ago and just finished another hat a few months ago. But I have a lot of spreadsheet lines dedicated to projects for him that aren't crossed out. So I decided that February is light on projects, I should take this month to see how many of those undone projects could be done. I'll let you know what all I get done.
Husband fares slightly better. I made a hat for him 8 years ago and just finished another hat a few months ago. But I have a lot of spreadsheet lines dedicated to projects for him that aren't crossed out. So I decided that February is light on projects, I should take this month to see how many of those undone projects could be done. I'll let you know what all I get done.
Friday, January 27, 2012
The Hipster Baby
I thought I would post at least a few pictures of the auntie projects I have done. This is mostly because I am working on a couple of things to send her now and they aren't really to the "photograph" stage yet, but I wanted to post something. Also, baby things are adorable.
I started this pretty shortly after I heard that I would have a niece/nephew. They didn't know the gender yet, so I went with a neutral color. The pattern is from the book Itty Bitty Toys and is made out of Stroll Tonal (in Kindling) from Knit Picks. I recommend the book for knitted toys (the instructions are good and have had good results from the patterns I have tried) but I think I would use a thicker yarn if I were to make it again. Also knitting this toy took me about 3 weeks, which is a long time to me. The outcome was cute, though I wish I had sewed the bear's head on a bit more securely as it wobbles a great deal. I meant this to be a before-baby project, but I ended up giving it to her when I first met Niece.
Once people started talking showers, I decided to make a baby sweater for at least one of my gifts. By the time I started this, they knew they were having a girl. A friend of mine had made this cardigan before and endorsed the pattern, so I gave it a shot. The pattern is the Twinkle, Vintage Baby Cardigan from Ravelry and the yarn is Stroll Sport (in Peapod) from Knit Picks. I did modify the pattern slightly to add i-cord loops for buttons and not including the eyelets for the ribbon tie. I was really impressed by how nicely it came out. The lace pattern on the body was a bit less "open" than I had originally planned, but it looked nice and was thicker than open lace would have been, which is good because Niece lives where it is chilly. The flower buttons also make it a bit more girly. I gifted this along with a sundress and leggings, hoping it would transition from summer into fall well. They loved the cardigan and a picture of her in it was even their Christmas card, which I thought was a real endorsement.
There were two showers, so these were also a shower gift. I was not impressed with the patterns I was able to find for Chuck Taylor booties, so I improvised one. If I get ambitious one day, I'll write up the pattern (in more than the note-shorthand that it currently is). I wanted these to be "classic" and able to go with anything, so I stuck to the basic black and white. The only yarn that I could find that came in a pure white and pure black was Stroll Sport from Knit Picks. The booties came out even better than I had hoped they would and are pretty much the only booties Niece wore. I made them like real shoes, so they have a tongue and laces that hold the upper side together, making it impossible for them to fall off. I made them in two sizes, one that worked out to be about 2-4 months and the other 4-6 months. They were gifted with a classic Ramones onesie (also black and white), bootcut jeans, and a denim jacket. For the truly punk rocker baby.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Newborn Baby Argyle Hat Pattern
I posted a pattern on Ravelry!
The pattern is for a Baby Argyle Hat that I made for a friend, since she had her baby in very late December. You can see the pattern here: Baby Argyle Hat pattern.
A picture of the completed hat is below.
Happy Knitting!
The pattern is for a Baby Argyle Hat that I made for a friend, since she had her baby in very late December. You can see the pattern here: Baby Argyle Hat pattern.
A picture of the completed hat is below.
Happy Knitting!
It just figures
Somehow it seems typical that I would think to start a crafting blog when I am making projects for people (meaning I can't really post about them here).
Either way, rest assured that I will post when I can. Expect updates about patterns and yarns, as well as any new techniques that I pick up, when I finish what I am working on now. In the meantime, hopefully I can get some patterns posted or archive posts or something.
Either way, rest assured that I will post when I can. Expect updates about patterns and yarns, as well as any new techniques that I pick up, when I finish what I am working on now. In the meantime, hopefully I can get some patterns posted or archive posts or something.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Starting out
Welcome to my crafting blog! Hopefully you are here for pretty craft pictures and notes about fun craft things to do.
I imagine most of these posts will focus on knitting, as that is my regular daily craft. I sometimes wing it without a knitting pattern, so those will likely appear on here as well. Other craft projects will also appear on here as I finish them.
Happy Crafting!
I imagine most of these posts will focus on knitting, as that is my regular daily craft. I sometimes wing it without a knitting pattern, so those will likely appear on here as well. Other craft projects will also appear on here as I finish them.
Happy Crafting!
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