cupcakes

In honor of Caitlin's upcoming birthday, I've added a cupcake decor to the blog. I hope you like it, Li'l C!

Cabled Hat

I made my first cabled project!
Pattern: Basic Cable from Stitch and Bitch Nation
Yarn: Vanna's Choice, eggplant
Needles: size 8 16" circulars
I was really excited to try a new technique, and cables turned out to be easier than I thought (after I asked my friend/knitting mentor Pepper for some help).

Vanna's Choice (VC) is a good substitution for the required yarn, Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted. Since I have to get my yarn from Michael's and Hobby Lobby, I couldn't get the required yarn in a timely manner, so I used VC and was happy with the results. Plus, VC is machine washable, which is an added bonus.

The hat is actually a darker shade of purple, but my shitty camera phone couldn't capture the color well. But, I'll probably be getting a new camera for my b-day, so good pictures will come later.

A new niece!

On Sunday, our new niece was born.
Kirin and Adisyn:


We thought she'd be here before Valentine's Day, so the stuff I collected for big sister Adisyn is Valentine's themed--sorry Ryan and Ash, it will be late.

Here's a pic of the hat I made for little Kirin:


I found the graph online, and made up the rest of it. It's sort of big for a newborn, but I figure she'll grow into it. Besides, everyone always gives gifts sized for a newborn and the parents don't have stuff for when the baby's older.

Another hat for Adi

Here's a hat I knit for Adisyn. I used the graph from the "center square" hat on Knitty, and just sort of made up the rest as I went along. The earflaps are a modified version of the devil hat in Stitch and Bitch.

And it's lined in fleece, so it will be extra warm for her. I painstakingly handstitched the fleece in, because the only green thread I had was embroidery thread, so I couldn't use my machine. Next time, I'll definitely use the sewing machine.
This picture shows the color more accurately, and the i-cord and pom-pons: (FYI, it's a pet peeve of mine when people call them "pom-poms"--that is not correct)


As for the argyle scarf, it's becoming a big pain in my ass. I've screwed up several times, and I hope the mistakes aren't that visible. I have nine out of 23 pattern repeats done. I'm not even halfway. :|

Uncle Argyle (one week later)

This scarf is taking forever! I've tried to do one repeat a day, and as you see I'm behind one day. Hopefully I'll catch up today.

Colors for Caitlin's scarf

Caitlin won't decide on colors for her scarf, so I'm creating a poll to help her decide. Here are some options I came up with.

1. pink and wine



2. tangerine and rust


3. guacamole and grass green


4. mustard and charcoal

5. charcoal and magenta

6. aqua and taupe (taupe is actually a bit darker in person)

7. ice blue and pistachio


8. girly pink and melon



Or, come up with your own color combo and tell me.

Uncle Argyle Scarf

I wanted to learn a new technique, so I started the Uncle Argyle Scarf from the Son of Stitch and Bitch book. The scarf is double knit, which is basically a K1 P1 rib, but it makes the scarf double sided, and it looks like stockinette stitch but it won't curl at the edges. I think it will take a really long time to complete, but hopefully it will be worth it.

I'm a knitting fiend

I knit another hat! This was hard for me, because it was my first project knitting in the round and using double pointed needles. I also learned how to pick up stitches (is that what it's called) and make an i-cord for the straps. I'm very happy with the results, but I think I'm going to weave in some really thin elastic around the head.

I basically used the devil hat pattern in the Stitch and Bitch book, but without the horns. Perhaps I'll make a horned version for one of my Grand County Red Devils friends.

My First Post!!!!

I am finally posting something. I know, it's about time! These are a few scarves that I have been working on the past few months.


The one on the left is the Boteh Scarf, made with Caron's Simply Soft. AKA cornucopia pattern.

On the right is the Cascade Scarf, made with the same yarn Brianna used for the flower scarf she made me. It is sparkley and a little darker in real life.

This is just a simple picot mesh arch stitch, made with Red Heart Soft.

Scarflette! haha. This is a pattern from the new Interweave. I made it lengthwise instead of widthwise, but I think it looks okay. Here's a close-up of the stitch.

Here's a Queen Anne's Lace stitch. This one is oatmeal colored. I also made 2 ruffle scarves with Homespun, but I gave one to Ariane and one to Kimber for her birthday. They look similar to the Cascade Scarf, but more dense.

Who should I give these to?

KNITTING!!!

I have been trying to cultivate my knitting skills (or lack thereof) for about three years. Up until last Friday, I had only completed two knitting projects--one garter stitch scarf (the easiest knitting project possible), and one stockingette scarf. But last week, I completed TWO knitting projects!!

First, I made this scarflette, or whatever you call those short scarves. The flowers are crocheted, and it's lined in fleece. It fastens with a snap.


I was trying to make it look like this scarf from Anthropologie:


Then, I decided that I had enough practice, and I was ready to learn something new--decreases. So, I chose a hat pattern from Stitch and Bitch that only involved knitting, purling, and knitting two stitches together.
I decided to make a hat for my niece Adisyn, because I wasn't really happy with the size of the crocheted hats I made for her, and a knit hat would be stretchy and would fit better. Because the pattern is written for three sizes, I made the smallest size and used size 8 needles instead of 10 (I think..). All three of the yarns used were Vanna's Choice, since it's cheap, washable, and I really like the color combo.


I'm now making her a matching scarf.


What's my next project? Maybe this crocheted cornucopia for Caitlin. hahahah.

finished hats

The finished Lattice Hat,

A hat for Ashley and Ryan's niece,

and a hat for Matt's cousin's baby.

Christmas Sweatshop V.2008

Here is Matt modeling the pajama shorts I made for Russ. You can't tell, but the fabric has a USC pattern with little Gamecocks on it. The shorts were probably one of the easiest sewing projects I've ever done, but I added two inches to the length because they were really short. I'm also making a pair for Ryan (soccer print fabric) and Erik (Airforce print fabric). Kelby's getting pants. And yes, Mom, I finished all the seams.

I also made a Dora the Explorer dress for Adisyn. Matt and I saw the fabric at Hobby Lobby and decided I had to make her something, because she LOVES Dora. The pattern itself was pretty easy, but one huge challenge was making button holes.

This was the first time I've ever made a button hole, so I dug out my sewing machine manual and learned how to use the button hole attachment. I made no less than seven practice button holes (the first few looked like complete shit) before I made the two button holes on the shoulders of the dress. I think I did a pretty good job! Aren't the buttons cute?


Matt had the idea of putting a label in my sewn items, so I used the ink-jet iron on transfer sheets to make labels on some bias tape. (Ignore the unfinished edge in the photo!)


Then, a day later I found some Dora ribbon that I thought would be perfect edging. I think it matches well. Matt and I got a little thermal shirt and some tights to wear with the dress, because it's too cold to wear in the winter. I hope she likes it!

Lattice Hat

I'm currently making this hat.

I'm using Vanna's Choice yarn, which makes the hat sort of thick, which will be nice for the winter. The pattern is relatively easy to follow, and once I got the hang of it, I stopped looking at the pattern. I still have quite a bit to go, but here's what I have finished:

Lots of finished projects!

Since I am still unemployed (which makes me bored and poor), everyone is getting homemade Christmas gifts. All of the Aunts/Grandmas are getting aprons and potholders. I've only finished two potholders so far. I've sort of been using the pattern from the Sugar and Cream dishclothes book. I say "sort of" because I lost the pattern and I had to try to re-write it by looking at a potholder I made a year ago. Here's one:

I'm not sure who will get this scarf. I just wanted to use the colors together. It's a shell stitch, and I did it lengthwise. I've been seeing a lot of shell stitch items in stores lately!
I made this hat for Adisyn, but I got carried away and it's really big, so I think I might give it to my cousin Lauren. It's my first attempt at lining a hat, and I think it turned out nice.


It's lined in grey fleece, so it will keep someone's head extra warm.

I made two scarfs using the "Boteh Scarf" pattern in an old issue of Interweave crochet. I made the tan one first, then I liked the pattern so much that I also made a brown one. I'm not sure who these will go to, but I'm tempted to keep one for myself.

I made this hat for Adi because I wanted to try one of the motifs in the new book Caitlin gave me. I thought it looked like a snowflake. The colors are actually lavender and grey, though it looks blue in the picture.

And there are many more projects to come!!