knitting – Just another WordPress site

Five Ideas for Handmade Gifts

March 13, 2017 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

This week, I’m bringing you 5 hand-made gift ideas to consider for your friends and family.

1 – Hats

[easy-image-collage id=1098]

Hats are quick and easy projects and make great gifts. These are some of my favorites that I made so far. The first is a hat I made for my husband several years ago. It is still the most favorite hat I have ever made. Second is a hat I made for my friend Chelsea. She wanted a couple of fun berets for summer. This one has a purple companion and was really fun to make. Number three is a fair isle hat. I love doing color work and since you’re using two yarns for the colorwork part, it’s double-thick and cozy. Finally, a little baby dinosaur hat that’s a mixture crochet (for the base of the hat) and knit (for the spikes). This one can be made in any size from newborn to adult.

2 – Mittens and Gloves

[easy-image-collage id=1103]

Gloves, fingerless and otherwise, as well as mittens are great warm gifts to give. They take a little more time than a hat to make, but that’s only because there’s some shaping involved.

3 – For the Kiddos

[easy-image-collage id=1106]

For welcoming baby to the world, what could be better than a sweet layette set? A coordinating hat, sweater, diaper cover and booties go together to make an adorable little outfit, suitable for the newborn photo shoot. Soft toys with sewn-on eyes are perfect for littles ones of all ages. For older kids, who haven’t outgrown the love of stuffed toys, getting the perfect gift that matches their interests is easy.

4 – Christmas Stocking

[easy-image-collage id=1108]

These things are so much fun to design and make! I really enjoy getting to know my clients and designing a pattern that fits their personality perfectly. Did you realize that each of these stockings was designed especially for the person I made it for? The designing process is as much fun for me as the knitting process, especially with Christmas stockings! We can work together to make a design that fits your style and decor perfectly.

5 – Housewares

[easy-image-collage id=1109]

Knitted items can be functional as will as fanciful. There are practical things such as dish cloths, swifter mop covers and bath mats. Then there are fun decorations such as doilies and knitted flowers. Then there are the bonus combo items, like a pretty knitted afghan with wonderful cabled texture or a bright baby blanket. If you’re a beer lover, you can keep that growler nice and cool with a felted cozy – the possibilities are endless with the design of that one!

Have you thought about having something handmade for a special someone on your gift list? Maybe a hat or mittens, just in case we get cold weather again. Does your family need a matching set of knit stockings, or have you added a family member (or two?) but haven’t gotten them one yet? Are there little ones in your life that would love a little softie? I know it’s only March, but it’s not a bad idea to start thinking about what you might like to do for Christmas. If you have an idea, let’s talk about it and see if we can work together!

Have Planner, Will Plan

February 6, 2017 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

Good Morning and happy Monday to you, my friends.

There’s not much to talk about knitting-wise this week because I’ve not done much knitting. I have made some decent progress on my sweater – I’m working on the shoulders at the moment – but since it’s such a small yarn, it’s not going as fast as my most recent projects. I don’t mind that part, though. It’s very meditative knitting… around and around and around and remember to increase in the right spots and just keep knitting. I’ve very nearly used all of the first skein of yarn and I’m not even down to the sleeves yet.

I did try it on this weekend to see if it was starting out the right way and I’m happy to say it’s going well. The shoulders fit me right the way they should and nothing’s to tight or too loose. It’s exciting.

So, if I haven’t been knitting much this week, what have I been doing?

I’ve been planning a birthday party.

For a *gasp* FOUR year old!

My big kiddo turns four this week and we’re having a party. I usually start planning his parties right after Christmas, but so much stuff was going on this year and I kept putting it off. So I’m trying to put it all together in about a week and a half. It’s coming along, and I think he and his friends will have fun.

I’ve also spent a lot of time this week just trying to get organized. I felt things going off the rails, with work and kids and trying to keep the house in reasonable order, so I am working on making myself a planner. Traditional day planners don’t quite fit my needs – I need more of a prioritized task list than an appointment calendar – so I’ve been searching for free planner pages, printing them and trying to see how they work with my brain. I’ve found a few things that are working and I’m tweaking the pages that don’t quite fit for me, so hopefully I can keep everything more tidy. I am a planner, I like lists and meal plans and organized shelves and everything in its place. The reality is that I don’t always have every little thing organized, and I have several piles of my stuff laying around in places. Plus, living with two kiddos (who prove the chaos theory) and another human (who can buy a week’s worth of groceries in one trip and make a week’s worth of meals without ever thinking about a list) means that it’s a lot of work to keep things from getting out of hand.

Last weekend, I was feeling so much stress about everything I felt was on my plate. This weekend, I am getting it organized and in its place. I have no illusion that I will stay organized forever. When I get comfortable with my routine, I won’t need the detailed planner as much, but for right now, it makes me feel so much better just to have it all written down in one spot.

I am going back to my knitting, now. Have a great week!

P.S. I am anxiously awaiting block 3 of the mystery afghan. I really hope it’s one that I will want to do. I could use a short, easy project to work on as I need a break from the big projects I’ve got on the needles.

Reclaiming Yarn

February 1, 2016 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

Have you ever made a project that you thought you’d love, but when you got it finished, it just wasn’t anything you wanted anymore?

These days, when I’m knitting for myself, I try really hard to make things I think I’ll wear. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? So why, if I’m not a vest person, do I have three vests that I’ve made, but never worn? It boggles my mind, for sure.

One vest has been reclaimed for yarn for my Merle Sweater. Another one has been put in the yard sale pile. (It’s not worth it to me to reclaim that yarn.) The third is one is waiting for a project to come along that will be perfect for the yarn. There’s also a shawl or two that I don’t really care for. These projects all took time and effort to make, but they’re just sitting, not being used.

I’ve gifted projects that I don’t like for myself to people who I think might like them. These purple socks went to my mom as soon as I finished them. I expected the yarn to knit up as purple with just hints of the bright colors, but it turned out way too bright for me. She loved them (and they did happen to match the shirt she was wearing that day.) We’re both lucky we have the same size foot!

There’s this one

I bought a whole bunch of sport-weight yarn for that, cast on a million stitches (actually, I think it was only 300-something, but still) and actually made two sections like the above, then joined them with a cable down the middle. The trouble is with that lace part you see right there. I just can’t get past the phallic-ness of it.

It’s sitting in a bag, and the ends haven’t even been woven in. It’s been sitting like that for almost 3 years. It’s obvious I am not going to wear it, so I think it’s time to frog so I can use the yarn for something else.

My project page says I used 4 skeins for a total of 580 yards. I’m not sure if that’s what I used in the entire thing or if that’s just what I bought initially. I know I went back and bought more yarn after I decided to do something different than the pattern called for. I know I have at least that much, though, so I can work from there. So, off to the frog-pond it goes.

There’s this one, too:

That’s the start of an Evening Shrug in Berroco Bonsai yarn. The yarn is Bamboo and nylon and it is so slippery! It’s very shiny, but it’s very hard to work with. It makes knitting a cuss-fest. I couldn’t even get it to stay in a center-pull ball. I don’t even know what I could stand to make with it. I think this yarn is going to the for-sale pile.

When I first started knitting, I picked up my knit stitches the wrong way. This made all my knit stitches twisted. I purled correctly, but the knitting was just wrong. I discovered this when I was taking a class learning to knit socks. I was probably halfway through with the pair, and I decided to just finish them out the wrong way then figure out how to knit right. This was 5 years ago, and I’ve never worn the socks. I never even wove in the ends. They’ve been sitting, unused and unloved for that long.

When the first snow of the year hit, I realized Jellybean didn’t have mittens that fit. He has a mismatched pair, but they’re too small. I offered to make him more. I dug through my stash and found a really great superwash yarn in yellow.

“What about yellow mittens?” I asked him.
“No!”
“Well, what color would you like?” (I knew the answer already.)
“Red!!”

And I came across the first socks. They were knit with Crystal Palace Yarns Merino 5 Print. Red with hints of orange, yellow and magenta. Worsted weight, so they’ll knit up fast. Superwash for easy care. Perfect!

I had no reservations about ripping out the socks to make mittens. I wasn’t going to wear the socks, so I’m happy the yarn gets some good use. I used Dulaan Easy-On Mittens for the pattern. They took an afternoon to knit and as you can see, they’re great for snowball fights with daddy.

The sweater I made for my husband is also being reclaimed to make him a sweater that actually fits. Yarn can also be reclaimed from thrift store sweaters! It’s fun to find a beautiful cashmere sweater for $5, then rip it out to make something new.

It may seem frustrating to make something, then just rip out all that work. However, I would rather rip out a project to make something useful than to just let it sit there, not being used at all.

Have you ever undone a project to make something new?

Finished Project Parade!

January 25, 2016 blogtest_2q7z6c 1 Comment

I’ve been quiet these last few weeks. It’s been cold and rainy and snowy around here. Jellybean and I are adjusting to life in a much smaller town. It’s been tough at times – we’re used to playdates and Mother’s day out and and being able to go to the zoo or the science museum or any one of several BIG playgrounds whenever the fancy strikes us. There are a couple of parks here, and he thinks they’re fun, but it’s been so cold and wet, we haven’t had many opportunities to go and when we have gone, we’ve been the only people there.

I spent several days looking for a MDO or preschool program in the area and that turned out to be a disappointing. The one program that takes kids younger than 3 is full and he’s not eligible for the others until the fall. So, we’re having to find other things to do. He’s a very social kiddo and needs time with other people his age to play with, so I’ve been looking for other ways to keep him (and us) occupied.

We’ve made a habit of going to the local library’s story hour and he just loves that. I also signed him up for gymnastics again. He’s in a more advanced class, now, so I am not out on the gym floor with him. We had our first class last Monday and I was a little nervous about how he would do with the differently structured setting, but I was pleasantly surprised and very proud of him! He really enjoyed the class, too, so that one’s a winner! I’m still looking for maybe one more regular thing to do, but we’re both doing better now that we’re getting a routine settled.

Anyway, on to the topic of this post! I’ve finished several things in the last month that I would like to share with you.

First of all, I need to show you guys the stockings I finished this year. First up is the one I made for Ashley’s new baby boy. I love the way these look together.

Ashley stockings - all four by the fireplace — All four stockings by the fireplace. So sweet!

Next, the four stockings I made for Amanda. These were the ones that pushed me out of my comfort zone and I’m so glad they did! Projects like this help me learn new skills, polish up old skills and are a real boost to the confidence!

I also finished a sweater. Not the one I told you about, but one for Jellybean. It’s been difficult to get him to actually WEAR it, so I have no cute photos of him in it yet, but I love the way it turned out and it fits him well (at least as far as I could tell for the two minutes he had it on!)

He wasn’t fond of wearing last year’s sweater, either, but I thought that might have been because it was wool. This sweater is made with Knit Picks’s Mighty Stitch, which is 80% acrylic and 20% wool. It’s soft and has a silky feel to it. But he still doesn’t want to wear it. 🙁

We’ve had a round of snow this past week. With the snow came the realization that my kiddo had no mittens that fit. Luckily, mittens are fast and easy, especially for little hands. I used the pattern Dulaan Easy-On Mittens by Julia Farewell-Clay and I made these in an afternoon.

They’re awesome, but he won’t wear them. He puts on his old mittens that barely cover his hands to go out and play in the snow. *sigh* I really thought I had a few more years before he refused to wear the hand knits I made for him.

He needs a new hat, and he asked for a Mickey Mouse hat. Maybe he’ll actually wear that one if I make it.

In between these projects, I have still been working away on the re-knit of Hubby’s sweater. I’ve finished the sleeves and I’m working on the back, now. I’m also working on a birthday gift for my soon-to-be three year-old (THREE?! yes, three.) I’m looking forward to showing that to you, too.

Enjoy your week and stay warm and cozy!

Now The Real Fun Begins!

November 9, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

So, we closed on our new house on Friday. That means it’s time to really get focused on moving. We’ve been cleaning and purging and packing some, but nothing that remotely resembles close to being ready to go.

The urge to purge has been diminished quite a bit. We bought a house that was bigger than we expected to buy. The garage is huge and has lots of storage space, for better or worse. That means we’re to the point that we’re just chucking everything into boxes and we’ll sort it out at the other end. But we all know how that goes. There are boxes sitting in our garage right now that I moved here from my last house that are still full of the same crap that I moved INTO my last house. Oh well.

Knitting has taken a back seat to packing. I’m sorry to say I won’t be doing any more new stocking orders this year. I don’t even think I’m going to get much personal knitting done for Christmas this year. I do have several stockings to finish up for customers, and I’m going to be working hard to get those done in time for them to be enjoyed. I’ve spent this week’s allotted knitting time designing four stockings for a family that have been really fun to do. I love the designing process and I really enjoy making them so personal for each person.

My main focus for the next few weeks will be packing and moving and knitting the things that have to get done. Hubby’s sweater is on hold for a little bit, even though I’m working on the last piece. He’ll get it by the time he really needs it, though.

Also, I have yet to make Jellybean’s winter sweater for this year. I have the pattern picked out and the yarn is sitting right here. It’s just going to have to wait until after all the Christmas knitting is done. (Unless I can manage to get it done FOR Christmas… that’s a possibility.)

Lollypop and I are just cruising. I’m feeling lots of flutters, and I just love that. With all the craziness, it’s been difficult to bond with this baby, but feeling the movement helps a lot. I’m also starting to get a little bit of a bump, although it’s not noticeable to anyone but me and my blue jeans just yet. Jellybean talks about Lollypop some, too, which is just adorable.

Have a great week, my friends!

Monday’s Update (Late) on a Tuesday

October 6, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

This is getting to be a habit, isn’t it?

I’ve spent lots and lots of time adulting this week. Things just gotta get done, ya know? The craziness of preparing to move plus trying to find a new house plus getting this one ready to sell (we can’t find any handy people who want to bid our job!) plus keep up with all the normal stuff we need to do (for some crazy reason, my family still wants dinner. Every night!)

Take all that and add in a toddler who’s dropping naps (woe is me!) and it’s a struggle to get anything done.

I’ve instituted a daily quiet time for the toddler, which will allow me too get something done, and I’m using my MDO time to pack and sort through all our stuff. Which only leaves bedtime for knitting. The plus side is that we can put jellybean to bed early when he doesn’t nap and he usually doesn’t have an issue with that.

I’ve been focusing on my husband’s sweater for the last week or so. I’ve finished one sleeve and made good progress on the second. The pattern is easy and predictable, so after the first repeat, I didn’t need to look at the chart anymore.

This sweater is constructed differently than my cardigan. My cardigan was knit all in one piece with no seams. This sweater is knit with the front, back and sleeves being separate pieces.

Patterns always start with instructions for the back, then the front, then sleeves. I started with the sleeves, though. I do have a reason! The sleeves start out at the cuff, and are only 54 cast on stitches rather than 120-something. I used the first sleeve as a gauge swatch, so I sorta cheated. Turns out I hit the gauge right on the money so there was no need to rip out. Always a good thing.

When I started the second sleeve, though, I realized I forgot to change one of the needles after the cuff. (The ribbed cuffs are usually knit with a needle one or two sizes smaller than the body.) So I knitted the entire sleeve with an 8 on the wrong side and a 9 on the right side. Oops.

I’m not really sure if that will have a huge effect on the overall fabric, but just to be on the safe side, I forgot to do it again on the second sleeve.

I have a few stockings that are washed, blocked and ready for details and personalizing. Two are for the shop and the other two are claimed. One of these nights, I’ll take a break from the sweater and get them finished up.

I have plans to offer some luxurious lip butters and lotion bars in my shop this fall, too. My father-in-law keeps bees, so I have an awesome local source for untreated beeswax. I’m very excited about this!

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at more houses. Wish us luck that we find one we like! Have a great week!

P.S. I wrote this entire post on my phone, since I’ve been to busy to sit down at the computer. I hope the mistakes are few and forgivable. 🙂

Secret Scarf – FREE Pattern!

September 7, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

It’s Labor Day! After laboring on the sweater, I have to tell you that I’m a little bit burned out on knitting. I’ve been working on some small things, but I haven’t quite gotten the drive and determination to work on anything big yet. So, in honor of both labor and laziness, I am cheating on my blog post this week and recycling an oldie.

This pattern has been available for a few years, but I’ve never highlighted it on this blog.

Inspired by the Yarn Harlot’s One Row Handspun Scarf but worked on the bias. The pattern includes both written and charted instructions.

This pattern is quick and easy, making it a great last-minute gift idea. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry – Secret Scarf.

Epic Sweater Reveal!

August 31, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

After much anticipation, I can finally reveal my epic sweater.

This is my healing sweater. I have failed no less than three times to make a sweater for myself. Reasons for failure include lack of skill, lack of confidence and complete stupidity. But this one is a complete success!

My skills and confidence have improved so much in just the last couple of years. Making sweaters for my tiny human has helped my sweater confidence a lot, but I’ve learned a lot about reading patterns and techniques that make garment knitting easier. (I’ve also learned a lot about staying committed to the finished product.) I was able to modify this pattern just a little bit to make it fit me the way I wanted it.

This will be my winter sweater. I plan to wear it over layers, so for that reason I wanted a looser, not fitted garment. I also have long arms and broad shoulders. This means that commercial sweater sleeves tend to end up being about 3/4 length on me. It’s annoying and my wrists are always cold. I’m not so into the trend of shorter length sweaters, either. I was able to make the sleeves and body long enough to my satisfaction.

I might have made the sleeves just a smidge too long, but the wonderful thing about knitting it myself is… I can redo it if I want to. I would just undo the bind-off, rip out the cuff and a few rows, then re-knit the cuff.

"Why are you wearing a wool sweater in August? Are you crazy?" — “Why are you wearing a wool sweater in August? Are you crazy?”

The construction of the sweater was interesting and fun. The designer wrote the pattern so that you knit half of the back part of the collar then you stop there, pick up stitches along the cast-on edge and knit the other half. When you get to the same point as the first half, you pick up stitches along the edge and continue on down the body. If you’re not a knitter, that is probably completely confusing, but it works and it’s fun to do.

I modified the pattern at the hem to avoid having a split between the cable and the ribbing. That took some fancy needlework, but it was worth it. The only other modification I would make is to do a provisional cast on when beginning the collar. That way you would have live stitches to use when you started the second half and it would be seamless. As it is, the seam is pretty much invisible from the outside.

I love this sweater so much. It’s warm and soft. The cables are beautiful. The construction was simple, but interesting enough to keep me interested. I will wear this for years to come. I am so happy I made this!

Merle sweater designed by Norah Gaughan. Made in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. (Just for an interesting tidbit, Norah Gaughan is the same person who designed the pattern for the Aran Afghan I finished last month. I think you could say I’m a fan.)

P.S. Thank you so much to my awesome hubby for taking these photos for me. I am almost never satisfied with the photos I take, but I am almost always satisfied with his. <3

Oooops!

August 24, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

Last week, we went on a day trip to visit family. My husband and I take turns driving, so that means I got three good hours worth of knitting time. I finished the body of the sweater the night before so I was excited to be working on the sleeves.

A tangled mess of needles. Tough to manage, but so worth it.

The pattern calls for decreasing two stitches every three rows at the top of the sleeves. For my size, it goes down from 81 stitches to 49. It turns out this is a pretty rapid decrease. I knitted and knitted and knitted, then when I got the decreases done, I tried it on… and it was too tight around my upper arm.

Now, I’ve said before that I am not a small woman. I want this sweater to be my comfortable, wear-everyday sweater. Three inches of negative ease around my upper arm just isn’t going to work. I read through the rest of the sleeve instructions and realized that the pattern is written for 3/4 length sleeves – that’s also something that I don’t want. I want full-length sleeves with some room to layer.

So I had to do some math and rip out three hours’ worth of work. It’s disappointing, but I wanted to be able to wear the sweater, so it was worth it.

I’m still getting the same gauge (even though I felt like I was knitting tight on the sleeves – I was excited and listening to fast music, ha!) so I had to rework the design to decrease more slowly and get the length I need.

My gauge was 17.5 stitches and 25 rows over 4 inches. 17.5 stitches divided by 4 inches = 4.375 stitches per inch. 25 rows divided by 4 inches = 6.25 rows per inch.

The pattern was decreasing two stitches every three rows, so that works out to almost one inch decrease in circumference every inch of length. 49 stitches (this is the number of stitches you end up with after all the decreases are done) is 11.2 inches in circumference. I measured my arm a few inches above my elbow, and it was 14 inches. No wonder it was tight!

I started out with 81 stitches and decreased to 49, so that’s a total of 32 stitches decreased. Every decrease row subtracted 2 stitches, so that’s a total of 16 decrease rows. The pattern states that every third row is a decrease row. That means that as the pattern is written, it takes 48 rows to do all the decreases. With my gauge of 6.25 rows per inch, the length of the sleeve after all the decreases are done is 7.68 inches.

I decided I wanted the sleeve to be about 15 inches in circumference at the point where I measured. 4.375 stitches per inch times 15 inches = 65.625 stitches. I decided to round up to 67 stitches to make it even. 81 stitches down to 67 stitches is 14 stitches decreased, which is 7 decrease rows. The length where I measured was about 7.5 inches down the sleeve, so decreasing once every inch will get me close enough. That means doing a decrease row every 6 rows.

I continued working a decrease row every 6 rows until I got down to the 49 stitches. That got me to a sleeve length of about 15 inches. I have really long arms, so I estimated I need to work the sleeve for 22 inches. I needed to continue to decrease the sleeve down the arm to make the taper just the way I wanted it. I worked three more repeats of the decreases for a total of 19 repeats. Then I did the ribbed cuff for 3 inches.

The knitting is all done, now and I’m finishing up weaving in all the ends. Then it needs a wash and a block, to make it look all pretty. THEN I can get good pictures of the final product and show it off to you. I’m so thrilled!

The Afghan That Just Won’t Quit

August 17, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 7 Comments

I’m working hard on my sweater. I’m done with the body and working on the sleeves, now. I’ll have to do some math in order to get the sleeves the way I want them, so I’ll tell you about that next week (after I’ve gotten it all figured out.) In the mean time, I want to tell you about a long-term project I recently finished.

This thing is a behemoth.

I started working on it in February of 2012. I bought a book, Comfort Knitting and Crochet: Afghans and fell in love with the Aran Afghan pattern. This pattern is designed by Norah Gaughan, who is also the designer of the Merle sweater.

I have to pause a moment to talk about the book. Many of the patterns in that book are worthy of spending time on. I made a version of Greenway for a baby blanket when that pattern was offered for free, then I found the book and discovered many more patterns that are beautiful and unique. I just flipped through all the patterns again, and wow! This book can keep me busy for YEARS!

I wanted to make it out of Cascade 220 superwash. I found the right color, with help from my husband, and ordered it through my LYS. She required orders by the bag for special orders. That’s 20 balls of yarn. If I recall correctly, that’s two bags.

20 balls, 220 yards in each ball. That’s 4400 yards of yarn. 2.5 miles. 100 grams per ball means 2000 grams, 2kg, of yarn or about 4.4 pounds.

I decided to stop short of 20 balls. I held back a little less than 1 ball in order to have yarn to make repairs, if needed.

But, like I said, it’s a behemoth.

That’s no afghan, that’s a twin size blanket.

Working off and on, usually during the very cold months, it has taken me more than three years. I did some of it in the spring and summer right after I bought the yarn, but it quickly grew big, heavy and hot.

I worked on it the entire winter I was pregnant with Jellybean. Just before he was born, it was big enough to cover my toes while I worked on it.

I almost can’t believe it’s done. It’s had a permanent spot on my shelf for so long, and now that spot is bare. It’s worth it, though. Bring on the Winter!!