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!

Simple Living Challenge : Article Roundup

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. I spent my time sewing some diapers...

A cute little all-in-one with PUL outer, OBV inner and Bamboo/Hemp Soakers...

And did some knitting on the longest sock ever!

I love the idea of this socks construction in theory - you knit 1 super long tube with ribbing on both ends. Then you fold the sock in half and cut it apart. You then knit an afterthought toe.

When you're ready to gift the socks, or whenever you're ready to determine how long you want the foot to be you try it on and mark where the heel should go. Then you cut the heel portion open and knit an afterthought heel. Pretty neat! I'm a little knitted out on it though, getting a little bored of the never ending knitting.

A few Simple Living Challenge articles I've found around the blogosphere this week that I think you should read -

simplicity is not easy

The less you need, the more you have

Being simple sucks sometimes

banishing drudgery

A food manifesto for the future

Happy Monday! Any simple living challenge articles you could recommend for reading?

Handspun Tiny Leaves Cardi

So what would be a vacation without travel knitting? Once I've decided to go that's one of the first things I think about. I always plow through my stash looking for a yarn I love and a nice, soothing mindless project.

In this case I unearthed some of my favorite handspun ever. This is BFL in colorway the foundation from the sweet georgia fiber club.

It started off as a eternity scarf but something wasn't quite right - it just wasn't showing off the yarn. So I ripped and ended up starting a Tiny Tea Leaves Cardi

Perfect!

I knit my way through California, the Grand Canyon.....

Sedona....

Montezuma's Castle...

And before I knew it, it was done!

I even made tiny matching buttons myself - black sheep, white sheep

Washed and blocked it...and now we're all set!

More details on ravelry if you're interested.

Happy spinning and knitting! :)

Making :: A stocking

Well I finally got started on Abby's stocking I was talking about.  I pulled out a few inspirational books from my personal knitting library (Alice Starmore's amazing Book of Fair Isle Knitting and the über gorgeous Estonian mitten book) and a a few balls of shelter yarn.  I'm loving the picot edge and the interlocking stars pattern so far but I'm not sure if I like what's coming next (I have plans for a version of paper dolls) - we'll have to see if this one keeps going or gets ripped. 

Better hurry and make up my mind, this elf is running out of time!

Spiral Cowl Pattern Updated!

 
Hi All!  I finally got something off my to do list that's been sitting there for over a year - the free spiral cowl pattern has now been updated!  It's even better than before, with more pictures and a few word changes to clarify that pesky and confusing stitch marker slipping.

I just finished a new version in handspun!

You can get the latest version here (PDF file)
or queue it up on Ravelry here

Happy Knitting! =)

The first of the hand-mades

**First - my ball tutorial was featured on Elle Decor España! How exciting!)**

Well I'm nothing if not predictable (or is that unpredictable?)  -  as soon as I get a list together I get distracted by making some other pretty, shiny thing and go off on another craft tangent.

In this case I was distracted by the cold.  Abby really needed some warm pants and I can never seem to keep socks on that girl so I wanted to make them extra long to cover her toes and extra wide to cover her cloth diapers.  I picked up a few wool sweaters from my local goodwill and felted them.  The wool when felted creates a super warm material that keeps out most cold winds so she can stay snug and warm when outside on our walks.

The first sweater became two pairs of pants.  1 pair was made from the body of the sweater using Anna Maria Horner's super cute book - Handmade Beginnings.

I modified it slightly by only making a single layer instead of a double and cutting down on the seam allowance because of the thickness of the sweater and to increase the room for the cloth diapers. I also cut out the back contrasting part.  This is a great, very basic pants pattern.  I've already made about 5 pairs of pants from this pattern and I really like how fast they come together.

The second pair of pants was made out of the sleeves of the felted sweater.  I had been dying to try this super cute tutorial here and it actually was really easy.  I think once I got started it took less than 30 minutes for a pair of pants.  There is another super cute tutorial here that I'm going to try with my next sweater. 

Next I finished weaving in the ends of a pair of super warm stripey baby socks.  I knit them out of the BT shelter yarn and wanted to use it as a practice piece for doing jogless stripes in the round (link to youtube video)  These were a really basic sock.  I used 3.25mm DPN's and cast on 32 stitiches.  There is a K2P2 ribbing for an inch and a short row heel with regular sock toe like my plain vanilla pattern.  I hand-felted them slightly when I was finished for extra cosy-ness.

I also finished a set of plastic bag holders for a Christmas gift for my Grandma.  I'm not much of a plastic bag collecter myself, I try to use reusable bags as much as possible but she loves collecting them and had requested a holder. 

I thought these turned out cute.  If you'd like to make something similar there is a tutorial here.  I make mine slightly different.  I make them wider and shorter and add an extra row of stitching to the top to create a ruffled edge.  They are super cute and very very easy to sew.  If you're looking for something quick to create for someone on your list, this is it!

While I've been busy making things, Abby has been playing along with her new super cute set of handmade wool Matryoska dolls from Kathleen.  K actually designed the pattern herself and they are adorable.  They are perfect for baby grips and light for throwing.  You can see her pattern on ravelry here.  I have very fond memories of these types of dolls.  I used to have set when I was young from Russia I believe and it was one of my favorite things to play with.

Happy Making!  Hopefully I can get a lot knocked off my to do list this weekend! =)

Brrr! Baby it's cold outside!

**Thanks for all the great giveaway entries! My computer crashed over the weekend so I've been offline for 4 days trying to rebuild (good thing I had a backup - thank YOU time machine) but it will take a little while to get organized and randomly pick winners. I'll be emailing ya if you're a winner at the end of this week** =)

Brrr! It's cold out there today! I'm freezing to death over here and I'm trying to keep warm by keeping my fingers busy. I've been busy knitting away on my advent calendar project. My custom advent tags from Polka Stripe Studios just arrived. So darling! They fit just perfectly!

I've been sewing up a storm to the tune of a few gathered clutches for christmas gifts. This is a really cute project - I had skipped over it when it first came out because it look too complicated to me. Turns out, it's easy! The steps are very basic and it takes you through the process step by step to make a totally amazing clutch.

And, I finally finished my Christmas hanging redwork! This is very exciting - I've been in progress on this for over 2 years so it's a great feeling to know it will be hanging from my wall soon to enjoy during the Christmas season. Next step is to figured out the borders and backing and get it put together!

Happy Tuesday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here...

I'm totally smitten (with a mitten!) - a new advent calendar pattern by Emily.  You can download the free (!) pattern off the knitpicks website.  I'm using that brand new yummy shelter yarn by BT I was telling you about.    I'm super happy with the way it's turned out, I'm using 4 colors, natural cream, grey (sweatshirt), red and green.  There will be 6 mittens in each color for a total of 24. 

It's sunny in AZ today!

I've also had some pretty redwork in my lap, trying to finally finish it in time for the holidays. 

Here's a peek - it's a cute design with some kids making a snowman amongst the trees.   Very old fashioned styling.  I'm picturing some sort of fabric framing with small squares immediately around it and then a larger rectangle all the way around.  I haven't decided if I want to quilt the border or leave it plain or???  Any advice would be welcomed! :)

Happy Wednesday!

 

Handspun Knits :: Wristlets

Remember that yummy skein of handspun cashmere I showed you? 

I finally finished the knitted wristlets I'd been planning using this free pattern.  The pattern was super simple and easy to make.  The construction is very easy, it's knit flat and then seamed.  I only had enough yarn to knit 4 repeats but they are the perfect size and super luxurious.

Another knit down and tossed into my christmas gift pile!

Mill Creek Cowl

In the spirit of working quickly on projects in small bursts of time after the baby falls asleep I'm proud to present my latest FO, the Mill Creek Cowl by the very talented Elinor.  I first saw this pattern on ravelry and fell in love with the eye catching color.  I pulled a skein of Have you Any Wool Classic Sock yarn in the colorway Midnight from my stash.  A very generous gift from Rachel I've been hoarding saving for a few years for the perfect project. 

Using a US 6 circular this went relatively fast. I knit the recommended number of repeats and after a quick block it's currently resting in my Christmas gift bin.  I'm trying to get a jump on my Christmas gifts this year!

Can't you just picture it with blue jeans??  How would you wear it?