Knitty Gritty Thoughts

Just Hooking Around

Phew - it's been a rough month or so. Lots of busy busy things going on - Abby is teething with her first tooth so sleep has gone out the window. On top of that we had the time change so now I work an hour earlier. I start work at about 5:30am to get enough hours in before Abby wakes up. Couple that with working during every (non-existant) nap, my husband was traveling for 2 weeks for work. We had lots of family visiting (and showing around). He also has started back to his master's classes again full time at school plus working full time. So, it's busy, super super busy and I'm exhausted. I've had very little free time for myself.

In the few minutes I had, I've been working on my potholder swap project. I chose the gorgeous African Flower Mandala (free!) pattern and coupled it with Tahki Cotton Classic and my favorite hamanaka crochet hook. This was such an enjoyable pattern.

I had a bit of a rough start. I messed up on the instructions and ended up with 5 flower petals instead of 6 so I had to redo quite a few....

The colors are so bright and cheerful! It's like a big ray of sunshine! The potholders have been shipped off and I'm eagerly awaiting the swap and to see which ones they send in return. You can see my ravelry details here (with more photos). In the meantime I'm working on a new project...

The very simple and cute garter yoke cardi in peace fleece. I was totally inspired by this gorgeous version and this one. Can't decide on the button color! What do you think?

Happy Wednesday!

Big Necked Baby Bib Pattern

I've been locked away in my craft room working on bib after bib trying to find the right fit for Abby.  I tried 4 patterns available online and sadly all of them were too small.  I hate too small - it makes me feel like she is going to be choked when she is wearing it.  So, in the spirit of making it yourself, I drafted my own "big-necked baby bib pattern" the name is a riff on Rae's Big butt baby pattern. :)

They are super easy to make and very fast too - I made these each in less than 30 minutes from cutting out to topstitching.  It's a great use of small pieces of fabric and has great coverage - lots of front and shoulder covering for all those messy foods.  Perfect shower gift! Isn't that hedgehog fabric adorable??  It was a gift from Valerie from a swap we did.

I'm drafting up the pattern file on my computer now and I'll make it available for free download sometime in the new year - life is too crazy with all the holiday crafting to do it any sooner.

And in the meantime, something else that wasn't on my to-do list but became a top priority -

My gorgeous ripple blanket has sprung a hole!  I love the fact that it's been used and loved so much that it's starting to wear out but this was a little soon!  I'm off to google every possible solution to repair it.  Anyone have any ideas??

Mini Make Along :: Crochet Pillow :: Part 3

Well here we are on the final part of the Mini Make Along :: Crochet Pillow Edition!

This was a lot of fun, I found myself getting a lot more done and being more productive now that I was being held accountable by you all.  And I have a cute pillow to boot too!

So - We last left off here.  And if you missed the first step, you can find that here. 

We're on the final part of the pillow, cutting the fabric pieces and putting it all together.

So!  Take your 1/2 yard of fabric and cut the following -

1)  1 16x16 inch square

2)  1 13x16 inch rectangle for the back

3)  1 8x16 inch rectangle for the back

Let's put together the back first.  Take your 13x16 and 8x16 rectangles and take one of the shorter sides and iron down 3/8 inch once, and then again.  It will look like the following -

Sew along the edge of the folded edge to finish the back.  If you happen to have an edge foot - it comes in very handy, or you could use a smaller 1/4 foot. 

OK - now we're ready for the front.  Take your 16x16 inch square and take your blocked granny square and put the sqaure on top of the fabric.  Pin around the edges.

Put the walking foot on your sewing machine and sew on the very edge all the way around.  This helps to keep the square in place.

Next, after you've gone all the way around you're ready to put together your pillow.  Set the granny sqaure part right side up on the table.  Next, put the short top piece on top.  Put the longer bottom piece on top of that.  Pin the layers into place.

Sew all the way around the edge of the pillow using 3/8 seam allowance.  Trim the corners after you're done to help make them square. Trim threads.

Turn the pillow right side out and put your pillow form inside.  All done!

 

And the back...

Easy peasy??? If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I will answer them.

Thanks for joining the make along!  Happy Crocheting!

Catherine Wheel

I'm going to have to postpone the final part of the mini make along :: crochet pillow project for a few days.  Abby got her 4 month shots and things have been very, very ugly.  Poor thing, she feels terrible and she's not sleeping very well, and as a result I am bone tired.  No time to sew today!

Instead I wanted to pull a project out of my work basket to show you.  I'm so very proud of it.  That pattern stitch right there is the catherine wheel crochet pattern.  I've been wanting to learn how to do it for ages right after I saw this blanket, and this potholder, and this and this scarf.  Lovely, huh?

I've been trying for years to figure it out, even watching you-tube tutorials online and reading multiple patterns.  For some strange reason, it just wouldn't click for me.  Finally, finally I saw this pattern and the instructions were crystal clear - fantastic.  I dove into my stash and grabbed my hook and figured it out immediately. 

From there, I couldn't wait to start the blanket.  I started out with a single strand of sock yarn and the wheels were too small.  I then doubled it to get a much larger size wheel with a 6mm hook.  The results are the second project above.  I'm really loving how it looks so far - although I kind of wish I had a worsted weight yarn to get a more intermediate result.  I'll have to see what I can find in my stash.  What do you think?

Happy hooking! :)

Mini Make Along :: Crochet Pillow :: Part 2

Ok!  Here's the mini make along, part 2 for the crochet pillow.  You can see part 1 here.

By now you should have been crocheting like crazy, around and around on your granny square like this -

Once you've finished the crocheting part, weave in your ends and give it a good long soak with some wool wash.

Next, you'll want to block it.  I blocked mine to 16x16 inches.  Your size may vary based on the amount of yarn used and your gauge.  In this case I am using a 16 inch pillow form so I block it to the same size (16 inches).  If you need to go larger or smaller, keep this in mind.  You would block it to the pillow form size you need.

Now, you'll need to gather your pillow making supplies!  You'll need-

• 1/2 yard of coordinating or contrasting fabric (for a 16 inch pillow, if yours is larger you may need more fabric)
• matching thread
• 16 inch pillow form
• Your walking foot for your sewing machine if you have it.  If you don't, it's not critical but it makes life much easier! =)

I can't decide on which fabric to use!  What do you think??

Have a great weekend getting together your supplies!  I'll see you back here on Tuesday with the final part of sewing it together.

Mini Make Along :: Crochet Pillow

I was suddenly struck by the urge to make another one of these pillows.

It's an excellent use of handspun and fast and easy to do.  Since Leah was asking for more details on how I put it together, I decided to host a mini make along for it.

Let's crochet!

If you'd like to crochet along with me, it's easy. 

• Start with 4 oz of handspun, in heavy worsted to heavy-dk weight.  The best yardage would be between 160-250 yards.  Of course, if you want to use a bigger pillow, feel free to use more!
• Pick out your favorite crochet hook for the size of yarn you used.  In this case, I picked out this yarn and a 4.5mm crochet hook.

• Start crocheting your granny square!  I used this tutorial here.  Great pictures and very easy to follow!  Keep crocheting until you run out of yarn, making sure to finish the round.

Any questions?  Just ask in the comments and I'll get back to you.  On Friday, I'll post the next steps to the make-along, plenty of time for you to finish your square! =)

 

Pillows, hats, wristlets and more!

Since I'm still here, still pregnant I thought I'd pop in and share with you what I've been working on...

 

There's another easy-peasy newborn hat for the baby, now with stripes!  The free pattern I shared is here and you can queue it up in ravelry here.  The stripey yarn is yarntini in cheertini.  I love stripey yarn - it's my one major weakness!

It all started when I saw these beautiful pillowcases here.  I immediately started scheming how to figure out how they were made, so I could make a few of these beauties for myself.  Luckily, I found a really fun crochet/sew-along to make them.  You can find the whole great tutorial here.  I made a big stack of pillowcases, some with edging and some without and have a whole pile more in progress.  It's a great stashbuster, it uses up a lot of fabric.  The folksy set I made for the master bedroom. 

If you tweak the tutorial and shorten the pillowcase measurements by approx 2 inches you can a set of pillowcases out of a yard of fabric of the main and contrasting colors.  Much closer to the way I stash than the 1 1/8 required by the tutorial.  Plus, the pillowcases were a little large for my pillows, so shortening just made everything fit better.

And, last but certainly not least I spun up some more yarn.  This is 100% superfine CASHMERE top and it's oh so yummy and luscious.  I spun 2 ounces which got me about 125 yards.  I'm currently knitting this super cute free pattern for wristlets out of it.  So yummy!

Potholder Swap 2010

I managed to sneak in some speedy crocheting in my free time so I could make the deadline for the 2010 Potholder Swap! (Rav link) This is such a fun and inspiring swap!  I've loved checking out all the different patterns and friends creations (check out Heather's finished ones here!)

Pattern: Tried to look pretty potholder 
(FREE! and so cute! - I modified the pattern from a 8 star to a 7 star)
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic
Hook: 3.25mm hanimaka
Labels: Courtesy of Joanna!

These were so fun to crochet and I love all the color combinations!
Happy Crocheting!

In the garden:: A pillow project

You may have remembered this little handspun granny square... Lightning finally struck and I knew what it wanted to be- a pillow!

I used a 1/2yd of Kaffe fabric for the background and backing.  Using my sewing machine and the walking foot I sewed the square into place first, then I constructed the rest of the pillow.  This made the crocheted part sewn twice, to create a more sturdy pillow that wouldn't fall apart.

I'm calling this pillow "In the Garden" because the handspun looks like roses or tulips (the colorway is a Spunky club colorway called Tulips) and the green background with various shades looks like flowers.

Each step of this pillow creation was taken with care - It was handspun from hand-dyed fiber, hand crocheted and then sewn.  It's a great way to use up small bits of fiber (this project took 4 ounces and approx 270 yards).  The handspun creates a extra soft, lofty surface on the pillow that just makes you want to put your head down on it.

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out, and I'm planning another pillow project like this now!

Spinning Hexs

First order of business....And the winner is....

According to Random.org - 2!  SamLaTricoteuse!  Miss Sam send me an email with your address will you or I will email you tonight and I'll ship the pattern right out!  Congrats!  And if you didn't win, don't worry I have a whole stack of amy butler patterns to give away from her different designs so stay tuned.

I wanted to share a little project with you.  I've been playing with the idea of crocheted hexagons and spinning.  Testing different lengths of color repeats from a roving and how they translate into blocks of color in the yarn once spun and navajo plied.

I love the idea of multicolored hex's without all the work, the yarn does all the color changes and I can just enjoy crocheting around and around.  Hardly an end to weave in!

There are long color repeats...

 

Slightly shorter ones...

The shortest of all...

and a bulky two-ply thrown in for variety

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with them all.  I have a project formulating in my brain....

but in the meantime, they make a good coaster!

Hexagon tutorial here!