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knitting is a hereditary disease
You can thank Andrea for this little tip ...
I showed Andrea a pair of socks I’ve been working on and she said, “There, you should blog about that,” pointing to the rubberband I use to hold my double-pointed needles together and keep the stitches from falling off when my project is getting tossed around in a project bag.
So, folks, here you go. Just take any ol’ rubber band, line up your dps (working needle and the ones with stitches on them), hook the rubberband over the tips on one end of your dps, give it a half-turn as you bring it over the stitches, and then stretch it over the tips of the other end.
It works, and the price is right!
Stow Away Shopping Bag
Recently a friend was “de-stashing” (we all know about that, right?). Among other things, she tossed a ball of her first attempt at Navajo plied handspun yarn on the table and blathered to the knitting group, “This is so seriously overspun, it’s awful, if someone doesn’t take it, it’s going to be tossed out … blah, blah, blah.” (I just love the word “blathered” and couldn’t resist using it … no offense intended, D.)
It was pretty seriously overspun, no doubt about it. But her control of color was good and there are lots of uses for tightly-twisted fibers, right?
My brain went immediately to the Stow Away Shopping Bag pattern by Oat Couture, which I bought at Double-Ewe Yarn. The plan from the get-go was to surreptitiously knit it up and then give it back to her.
I didn’t have quite enough of her handspun so I Navajo-plied a bobbin of emerald green I had already spun and used that. Still not enough, so I took a little leftover reddish-orangeish-pinkish-purplish-with-sparkly-bits handspun I used to finish of a little cap, called That Hat, pattern also from Double Ewe Yarns. And here’s the finished product.
I have to say, this bag is such a great little project. I made one for my daughter before her trip to The Czech Republic. It folds up into a pack about the size of your two fists…
… and tucks into its own built-in pocket. Toss it in the back seat or glove box, or in a suitcase, and hit the road … easy-peasy.
(If you're interested, here's a good short video on how to do Navajo plying.)
What I did on my vacation from knitting
Believe it or not, I have actually finished a knitting project! Not that I have any proof, mind you. I was so excited (and overdue!) about giving it to its recipient, that I gave it away before I had a chance to photograph it. Bad blogger!
You will be seeing it soon, though; my Mom and I are both test-knitting it because I'm writing it up as a free pattern. It's just a little winter accessory that's quick to knit up. I did a lot of thinking about how I wanted to design it, but the actual knitting only took a couple of sittings.
So what the heck have I been up to if I haven't been doing any knitting?
Well, lately my crafty ambitions have been tending much more towards baking than knitting. Knitting is a creative activity that appeals to my brain, but baking has always been my comfort activity. When I'm under stress or feeling overwhelmed, that's usually when I usually start baking a lot. I don't know what it is - something about it feels so natural and basic and comforting to me.
I've been working my way through Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and have made six or seven loaves in the last few weeks. I just can't get enough of it. This book really makes it easy to make time in your life for homemade bread. I whip up a batch of bread dough on the weekend and let it rise for a couple of hours, then throw it in the refrigerator. Then a couple of times a week, I grab a chunk of dough from the fridge and bake a loaf. My favorite recipe so far as been a loaf made from whole wheat flour, steel cut oats, and dates, with some raw sugar sprinkled on the crust.
I also have the itch to sew something. I finally checked out the store Crafty Planet in Northeast Minneapolis and feel like I've been missing out on a treasure. I knew it existed but somehow the way I imagined this store does not do justice to the actual place. I think because it has both yarn and fabric, I imagined that neither selection would be great. Instead what I found was a carefully edited selection of fantastic yarns and fabrics. I left there dying to sew something. Unfortunately, I have a bad track record with sewing. Everything takes forever and I feel like I'm constantly asking for help. Knitting is much more my speed, yet I lust after all the beautiful fabrics out there; so I think I need to spend some time increasing my sewing confidence. Does anyone have recommendations for easy sewing projects to start me out?
Happy Birthday, Eva!
A year old already. The time has just flown by, and yet I can’t imagine a time without her.
For her birthday I made her the “You Kiss a Hundred Frogs Purse” designed by Laura Rintala (on Ravelry) and published in Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2009. What a fun project!
The pattern calls for Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted but I used Cascade 220 and it worked just fine. I decided to use Cascade 220 because I had leftover colors from Eva's Christmas stocking, and thought it would be safest to use all the same yarn since it was going to be felted.
While I was knitting it I thought, “huh, I don’t get it … how’s that going to work, shouldn’t that be attached to something … oh, angsty, angsty!” But I followed the pattern in spite of my doubts, and tossed in the washing machine with my fingers crossed. It felted in no time, and like magic it turned into a … a frog!
With a kiss, will it turn into a handsome prince? Now that would be magic!
A quickie baby gift
I needed a little something for a colleague's little one, expected early February, shower last week, gender unknown.
This took two sittings to complete, no big deal. But I think it's kinda cute.
Warning: non-knitting craftiness ahead
Christmas and the new year have been such a blur, what with chasing after a very crawly baby, juggling family and a snowstorm that kept us guessing about which of our holiday plans would happen and which would be canceled, and a family emergency on Brad's side of the family. I still have a hard drive full of photos that haven't been uploaded yet.
But the photos will have to wait a little while. I'm busy getting things ready for Eva's first birthday, which is -- I can't believe it -- in a week. Here's a taste of what I'm working on for her birthday. We're having a really small birthday party and I'm not going all out with decorations, but I wanted to make a little something festive to brighten up the house during her party.
The theme of the party is "apple of our eye". I think it'll be fun.
Eva’s stocking (and contents)
Here's the stocking, and the projects alluded to earlier as getting finished up like crazy.
Felted stocking for Eva, with Harry Bear (pattern free from Berroco) and earflap cap with matching mittens (photos of both below).
First the stocking. Felted, a little fair isle, a little intarsia, nothing too ambitious but I’m pleased with the result.
I knitted the stocking using Cascade 220 (single strand) and size 11 needles, using just a basic sock pattern for proportions.
(A note about the intarsia section: When I came to the tree section, I put the stitches involved in the intarsia on a straight needle, leaving the rest on a circular. I worked the tree rows, left them on a holder, worked back and forth on the stitches on the circular needle until I had the same length as the tree panel, then put all the stitches back on the circular needle and continued in the round. When I was all done, I just stitched the panel in place and the seams disappear completely in the felting.)
(Oh, and just for the sake of documentation in case I ever want to make another, I did an afterthought heel.)
I took some photos along the way because the shrinkage during felting always seems like such a guessing game. So I wanted to record just exactly what happened.
Measurements before felting: 28" long x 10" wide at ankle
Measurements after felting: 20" long x 7.25" wide at ankle
And stuffed inside a fluffy white Harry Bear, about 7 inches or so long,
and snowflake cap and mittens set.
Whew! Best Christmas ever!
Eva's stocking - finally completely finished
Okay, this is the last post about Eva's Christmas stocking... I promise.
I just had to show off my first try at needle felting. I took some tufts of pink and white roving and added Eva's name to the stocking.
Needle felting is fun. You should try it.
I finally felt like felting
Eva's Christmas stocking, before and after (click them for bigger versions):
Bad lighting on the "before" shot notwithstanding, I'm very pleased with how this turned out! I was worried the stocking would be way too ludicrously huge, but it became appropriately huge after felting. And here's a little closeup on this gorgeous yarn (Plymouth Boku):
And, wait a minute, what's this under the tree?
A present for me. This is one of the Fiber Trends felted clogs that I finished knitting almost two years ago and never got around to felting. After I pulled Eva's stocking out of the washer, I was so high on felting I threw the clogs in the washer immediately. And now that they're all felted, my very warm and happy feet are mad at me for not doing it much earlier. These slippers would have made maternity leave a little more cozy.
Felting is fun! I have two more Christmas stockings to knit and felt (though that probably won't happen until after the holidays) so I have something to look forward to.
Advent Calendar
How cool is this? Cut Out + Keep is currently doing a crafty advent calendar, revealing one Christmas-related craft a day. The crafts so far include sewing with felt, cooking, paper crafts, and more.
And how cool is this? They asked to include my mini mitten pattern for today's project.
And just to put an extra finishing touch on the coolness, today is my Dad's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad!
See Cut Out + Keep's advent calendar here.
| barb on flickr.com |
| andrea on flickr.com |
