yarn

So, as I mentioned the blog posts have slowed down but at home its been a mad dash to get projects completed.  The house is a disaster zone but we’re making great progress.

Even with all the housework I was able to work on a small knitting project for myself.  I found this Easy Lace Scarf pattern via Ravelry.com.  It’s a very easy to follow pattern but I realized I didn’t have enough yarn to make the scarf long enough so I improvised!

A lot of knitted hand warmers are worked in rounds.  This prevents the piece from having a seam. But if you don’t have supplies like double pointed needles or aren’t into knitting rounds just yet this is a great beginners option.

Lace scarf turned hand warmers. Here’s how:

Needle size: US 8
Yarn: Worsted weight

Lace pattern from Knittersreview.com
Cast on 22 stitches and knit 2 rows.

Now you’re ready to begin the lace pattern, which is as follows.
Row 1: (RS): K all sts.
Row 2: K2, p18, k2. (Those 2 border stitches on either end will always be knit in garter stitch—their role is to keep your fabric from curling.)
Row 3: K2, (K2Tog) 3 times, (YO,K1) 6 times, (K2Tog) 3 times, k2.
Row 4: K all sts.

Repeat rows 1- 4  10 times or till the piece measures 6 inches, then knit 3 more rows before binding off.  Create another piece the same size.

Once complete place them on top of each other with right sides together and hand stitch up one side. Doesn’t matter which side as they are identical.

The next step is to figure out where to place the thumb hole.  For that, place the piece over your hand and use stitch markers to figured out where to leave the opening.

Once again place the two piece on top of each other right sides together and hand stitched to the stitch markers and that was it. Turn right side out and your done.  Pretty easy and the seam isn’t even noticeable!

The yarn I used was a silk/cashmere blend so it had a lot of stretch to it which made them a little on the big side.  Nothing a warm wash can’t fix.

However, if I made them again I would keep the pattern the same but perhap use an acrylic yarn and smaller needles (US 7) so they don’t stretch as much.

A while back Beth and I decided to do a trade after I fell in love with one of her necklaces that was on display at the Strange Folk Festival last month.

The necklace perfectly matches these earrings that are also from her collection.  So, when I asked Beth what she would like in return she suggested a crochet bobble pouch much like the one I made for her sister Holly last year.

Finished size 9 by 5 in

It’s based on a pattern from the One Skein book by Leigh Radford but I made this version wider and a little shorter so it looked more like a clutch. I also added a patchwork lining with some Swell fabric I had in my stash. I thought the fabric went well with the grass green yarn from Knitpicks.com.   Their cotton worsted weight yarn named Shine is by far my favorite to work with.

I hope that Beth enjoys this as much as I enjoyed making it.  The textile of the bobble or popcorn stitch really makes this a sturdy and unique looking piece.

Amigurumi is what first got me interested in crochet a couple of years ago but its been ages since I made a crocheted little critter.  Since I had plenty of time to kill on the drive to and from Chicago, I was able to work on this little guy. 

It’s the perfect project for a road trip because it requires so few supplies.  The most time consuming aspect is sewing all the parts together and even that doesn’t take long.

If you’re interested in learning more about amigurumi the creator of this pattern has a blog and shares some free patterns. I found that starting with the simple snail project was a fun way to get introduced to this style of crochet. 

Other great amigurumi resources include:

Ana Paula’s Amigurumi Patterns & Random Cuteness

Gormet Amigurumi

Bittersweet (Crochet & Kitting patterns)

I can’t remember where I first learned about Knit Picks but I have to say they have a great selection and as their site says they really are “passionately committed to affordable luxury kitting”  because their prices are great!

So, I went a little crazy last week when I saw their colorful selection of Pima cotton yarn.  It’s super soft and for only $2.50 a skein you can’t go wrong!  I’ve worked with wool, cotton and acrylic and cotton is by far my favorite! I even love the colorway names.  My favorite being the brown cotton called Fedora.

I plan on making a few handknit holiday gifts this year so hopefully all of this will get used.  I just hope there are enough hours in the day to complete every project I want to work on.The Skulls III movie

yarn

Originally uploaded by dhop76

It seems like I go through crafty phases. One minute, I’m all about sewing and the next minute I’m all about going through the yarn stash and trying to figure out what I want to crochet/knit next.

So when I took this picture my intent was to talk about the yarn logo and how old-school it is. But, as soon as I saw the final result, I realized how super cute the little bear figured looked in the background and realized he’s really the star of the pic.

We picked this little guy up during our honeymoon trip last year in San Francisco.  We stopped by a small gallery named Fabric8 which features a lot of great local artists including Sirron Norris creator of the little bear. We loved his work so much we took home three of his small pieces. The other two are hanging on the wall in our office/craft space which I will feature soon.

The story behind the bear and why he has no arms is that you can hug him but he can’t hug you back!  Awe…so sad but he’s so cute you just want to hug him anyway!

To learn more about Sirron and his work you can visit his website at www.sirronnorris.com.

This was a test for a mini granny square project I’m thinking about doing.  The pen is to give you an idea of how small it actually is.   I think with practice I can improve the shape a bit.  It works up really fast which is great because I need to make a bunch of them!