For the love of Felting!

Felting:   A fabric of matted, compressed animal fibers, such as wool or fur, sometimes mixed with  
                 vegetable or synthetic fibers.

I enjoy felting very much. I love to see the final outcome it is always a little amazing how different the item looks. I haven't felted in about 6 years but this summer I got a pattern at a LYS (local yarn store) at the Ocean (pattern from "Two Old Bags") & when I showed my SIL she loved it & said Oh you can make that for me anytime. SO I knew Christmas would be the time. :-D  It has been a very tricky secret to keep since she is one of my knitting buddies but I got it done in time for our family celebration at my parents house.

I am kicking myself for not taking a pic of it before I felted it but it turned out so nice that everyone I show can't believe I made it.  It called for a button closer & knitted I-Cord strap but I tweaked it a little but adding D rings a magnetic closer & a leather strap & a decorative flower.  When I took it to work I had coworkers offer me cash on the spot & 2 others wanted to place orders. When I felt something it is about oh I would say 5x the size of the finished product so it takes ALLOT of knitting.

Here it is, ENJOY!!!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!

WOW after Christmas I currently have 3 different blogs that I will be posting w/ all the Christmas presents I've been making.  I am really building my knitting calluses on my fingers.  We have so much going on this month I am shocked that I am able to get as much knitting done. So After Christmas if I am successful I will have completed near 20 items between the craft fair & Christmas. CRAZINESS!! 

Speaking of Christmas my wonderful DH has told me that as my gift from him I can buy a set of interchangeable knitting needles!!!!!!! I am just a little excited. :-D  I did research for days on interchangeables between the:
Denise set: http://www.knitdenise.com/
Knit picks: http://www.knitpicks.com/needles/Interchangeable_Circular_Knitting_Needle_Tips_Cables__L300312.html
Addi Click: http://www.paradisefibers.net/Addi-Click-Interchangable-Knitting-Needle-Set-p/47036.htm

The popular choice on ravelry was Addi Clicks but they are steel & I really don't enjoy knitting w/ that. I love my Bamboo needles.  Knit picks is pretty reasonable & they have 3 types, bamboo, acrylic & steel. But the major problem I had w/ both of these sets were that they didn't go smaller than 24" circular. I live off of my 16" circulars & was looking into maybe even buying some 12' Addi Turbos, even w/ the dislike of steel needles, just to have them for baby hats. 

The Denise set is the most affordable & it is acrylic & has rave reviews from almost everyone & it went down to a size 16" circular.  So I was just about to buy them when I was doing a little bit more research on Ravelry's forum & someone stated that they like their Knit Picks but LOVE their Bamboo KA needles.  What was this???   I had been googling for days & the brand KA had never come up?  Back to google! 

Low & behold they there were: http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/knitting/yarn/KA/MidSwitchExchangeableCircularNeedleSet.asp?specPCVID=17675&advSourceID=9
I fell in love almost instantly! *SIGH* They were amazing! Not only are they the bamboo needles that I have grown to love they are also able to go down to as small as 9.5" circular & has tips all the way down to zero!!!  The set I am going to get has size 2-13 w/ 8 different cable lengths! Including the length that will make magic loop easy in every size!

I had just told my DH that now that I figured out the Magic Loop I needed every size needle in a 40" circulars.  DH had been asking me what I wanted for Christmas & I didn't really have an answer & then I remembered seeing interchangeable knitting needles at my local yarn store. Thus the research began.  Now will I not only have to not buy a bunch of 40" circulars but I will also never be w/o a size needle again!!  These can be used as straights, circulars & w/ magic loop no need for DPN's!  The catch is I have to wait until January to order them but when I get them I will post pics & a review of them & tell you if they are as wonderful as I am expecting them to be.

The Craft Fair

Well I made it to the craft fair however I didn't sell much.  I am still going put the left overs in my etsy store I just need to take pictures of the items. :-)

Here is some pics of my table set up

So now I have completed that I am on to knitting Christmas presents only now!!  I have a list of a min of 6 items I am planning on, this is aside from the 10 washcloths my MIL ordered to give away as gifts at work, w/ a possibility of up to 13 items & only 5 weeks & 2 days to go.  I updated my countdown so that it is for Christmas now & not the craft fair.  Lets see what I can get done some of the projects are things I have never made before but because family may read this blog I can not post what I am making until after Christmas, so you will all have to wait & see. :-)

Don't be afraid of patterns!

OH WOW I AM THRILLED!!!  I had knitted the VW beanie for my DH & my DS1 asked for a pirate beanie so I search & found a pattern that I was intimidated by.

It had Seven skull & cross bones going all the way around the hat it was perfect!  However I hadn't knitted anything with a picture pattern in so long & the VW had was my first attempt in a LONG time.  When I do this I always end up w/ all these loose ends & a & the picture or item seems to bump up.  This even happened w/ the VW hat.  So to my surprise this hat turned out perfect!! I now want to knit all hats w/ a picture or item that goes all the way around the hat!  I kept on showing my DH the hat as I was knitting saying: "Look at it now... Oh & now!!!"  LOL!! I used to look at patterns w/ details like this & think well maybe there is just a solid color one out there but now I am looking at them in a whole new light.  The simplicity of it just amazed me!

My DS1 loved it & has been waring it nonstop. Thank goodness the weather is finally turning to be a little cooler I felt bad on the semi warm days we had where he was waling around w/ a beanie on.

This got me to thinking on how Knitting is basically like Cooking as long as you have a pattern or recipe you can be Debbie Bliss or Julia Child.  So I am stepping out to knit something I said I would never knit.......sweaters!  I have picked out patterns for DS1, DS2 & myself.  I don't plan on making mine until closer to spring but I am setting a goal to have DS2's done for this winter.  Along w/ all my other projects I am still working on for the craft fair that is now only 2 weeks & 4 days away, EEEKKK!!!  

Espresso Bracelets!!

I found this pattern on ravelry.com for free it can be found HERE.  I was so excited!!!  Living in the greater Seattle area there is at least one esspresso stand on every corner. LOL!  This is such a wonderful alternitive to the cardboard sleeve & it is multipurpose so when you don't have it on your coffee cup you can be wearing it.  I am making these like crazy. They are super easy & a quick knit.

     

 I am calling this color Milk Chocolate. I am also making them in black, red & pink for the craft fair.

I have flower buttons on the way & some buttons w/ guns of them incase a man would like to use this wonderful item.  It is a nice way to be a little greener by saying no to those cardboard sleeves each time you get a coffee cause you can pull out your Espresso Bracelet, which looks 100 x's nicer than a piece of cardboard any day.

It will fit around a normal coffee mug too. However for me because of my tiny wrist it makes the bracelet a little loose for my liking after this.

Weekend Knitting (weekend of 9/18 & 9/19)

Well this last weekend I snuck away from my family for an overnight craft night at a hotel w/ some close friends. I was up until 5AM knitting.  The other two that spent the night made it to 2:30 & 3:30AM but I was so close to getting the snake done form DS1 Christmas present and I  can't work on it very easily at home w/o him seeing it.  He took ALLOT longer than I thought he would. Changing the colors constantly seemed to be very time consuming.  The worst part was weaving in all the ends!  So for each color swap I had two ends for the black stripe & one end of each color and I changed colors10 times so all together that was 41 ends to weave in!  I ended up turning the snake inside out & after weaving a couple times I tied them together on the inside but even that short cut was very time consuming. I think he turned out very cute & DS is going to LOVE him.  I now am going to make a 2nd one for DS2 but change it up one color in the pattern so that we know who's is who's.

I also managed to start knitting a hat for my DH this weekend. I officially finished it today but I am including it in my weekend knitting since I started it then. :-)  We are quite the VW enthusiast & I found this pattern on www.ravelry.com for free.  The pattern called for the hat to be knitting just on straight needles but I don't like seams in my hats so I put it on circulars then down to DNP for the end.  DH LOVES the hat it fits his big head perfectly. And no I am not being sarcastic my DH really does have a big head to the point that it is difficult for him to find normal hats that fit. Although he can always find a beanie because they stretch out he says this pattern sits right where he likes it. It was such a quick & simple knit I may knit him another one.  However DS1 saw me putting some finishing touches on it & he has put in his request for a hat too.  I still have to make the eye pillow he requested.  He just loves it when Mommy makes him things. 

I am continuing to work on knitting washcloths & eye pillows for the craft fair as I have time here and there.  However, I do have to itch to go buy more yarn. My Mom thinks I have to much yarn as it is but there is just so much out there I want to knit. And my DH doesn't think I have to much, he is all about hobbies since he has so many.  I was just introduced to ravelry.com this weekend as well & they have over 133,000 knitting patterns alone!  I just kept on saving patterns into my favorites & getting more & more project ideas! Hence why I need more yarn. ;-)

My Favoirte Fibers & Needle organization (or lack there of)

Favorite Fibers

I don't know if I am the only knitter this happens to but I find myself knitting w/ the same yarns all the time.  It seems like I am always knitting w/ either Sugar N Cream or Cascade 220, the wool I felt with. 

I love knitting w/ cotton I think that is why I use the Sugar N Cream so much.  That is what I made my baby blocks & the puppy out of.  You can get it on sale pretty regulary. And I just found out that Walmart now sells Sugar N Cream instead of the genaric Peaches N Cream.  They sell it for ONLY $1.47 a skien.!!!!At my last trip to Ben Franklin I paid $2.48 a skien . :-o  I checked the yards to make sure they were the same exsact stuff & yep. 

I do like knitting w/ the Microspun I am making the eye pillows with it is really easy to work with.  And the newest yarn I purchased that I think I am really going to enjoy is called "little grins" it is 60% cotton & 40% acrylic and it feels nice & soft. It is Machine washable, Dry Cleanable & Tumble dryable.  This is what I am making the boys snakes out of.  I am hoping to get one of the snakes done this weekend.

Needle Organization (or lack there of)

My Favorite type of knitting needle is the Clover brand Bamboo needles.  I LOVE THEM.  Although they are not very good if you are a tight knitter.  They have a little bit of tooth to them so they hold on the the stitches really well so if you are a tight knitter it can be VERY difficult to knit you stitches. So this is how I have all my needles right now (see pic)

Yep that is it ONE BIG MESS!!!! It is difficult for me to find what I need when I need it.  But I do have this wonderful Android App called: "Knitting Stash"  You can impute all your needles, their sizes, what type they are: DNPS, Straight or Circular & how long they are.  It also keeps tracks of your projects & offers counters.  So when I got the app I went through the whole basket, w/ a needle sizer for the ones where the size has worn off, and put them all in the app then promptly threw them back into the basket. :-)  My SIL did buy me this needle organizer for Christmas the year before last...

it is very nice and holds 12 sets of straight needles & technically I could put some DNPS in some of them but no spot for circulars & they are my favorite type of needle to knit with.  So now I am dreaming of some really fancy needle organizers by Namaste.  They are beautiful & soft leather.  They have been added to my Christmas list in hopes that my needles will be all organized someday. 

Washcloths

WASHCLOTHS!!!!

Again some orders coming already for the holiday season.  My MIL has ordered 16 to give out 2 to each of her 8 employees & My DH's Grandma has informed me that she had to throw all of hers out.  I've been using the new gorgeous colors of yarn from Ben Franklin & I am thrilled with the way they are turning out here are some pics.

This was the first thing I ever knitted it is a very simple pattern but it taught me to increase by Yarn Over & decrease by Knitting 2 together. and it is a basic garter stitch.

Pattern:

Cast on 3 stitches
Knit all stitches increasing one stitch in the last stitch each row for 1st 3 rows until you have 6 stitches
Then you want to K3 & YO knit to end of row
Repeat until you have 45 stitches
Now you want to K2, K2tog, YO, K2tog, knit to end of row
Repeat until you have 6 stitches left
K1, K2tog twice, K1
Now you should only have 4 stitches left & you just cast off

This is something I will be knitting constantly until Christmas. I am trying to make 3 packs for the craft fair the set of 2 like in top pic & then a solid color one as well.

Recent completed knitting projects

I am still trying to find the CD w/ the pic of all my older knitting projects to share but here are they ones I do have.

Puppy Slippers
This is another free pattern I got from lionbrand.com I did alter the type of yarn I used. They advised to use Lion Brand Tiffany style & I used Cascade 220 & Fun Fur.  I am hoping to get a few pairs of these made for the craft fair this Nov as well. The patter includes 3 sizes up to 1 year, I think.

This next project is one of those size 3 Double Pointed Needle projects that hurt my fingers but my son LOVED it.  This pattern I got from book called: "itty-bitty toys" by Susan B. Anderson.  The book is full of wonderful knitted toys, stuffed animals, dolls & even reversibles (where it is one animal one way but you filp it inside out & it is another animal.)  This is also the book where I am getting my stuffed snake pattern that I am making the boys for Christmas.

I made the "wrap-me-up puppies" minus the blanket the pattern makes.

This is a Crayon Caddy yet another free pattern from lionbrand.com.  This is something else I am hoping on selling at the craft fair.

Standing up for easy access

Rolled up & ready to be put into any bag, purse or backpack

This is called the 6 hour Afghan, free pattern at lionbrand.com.  I already had this yarn on hand & had it for years but didn't want to make the original blanket I purchased if for so I did a search on lionbrand.com for patterns w/ their Homespun yarn & found this it uses size 50 needles so it is a fast knit but you are knitting w/ 4 yarns at once.  I also didn't have as much as the pattern called for so this is more a Lapghan it is missing about 6 inches from the length according to the pattern but it is nice & warm & perfect for using while reading on a colder night.

Last but not least is a pattern I created.  I when I found out I was pregnant I wanted to make baby blocks & found a cute pattern w/ stars & these were to be stuffed. well after I had begun knitting them I then found another pattern for nesting blocks but they were just garter stitch (knit each row) so I decided to combine the two patterns so I could have the cute blocks w/ the stars on them but make them stacking & nesting.  Because it is a combination of two patterns I will be able to sell the pattern in my etsy store if & when I get it going. My first goal is still the craft fair.

 

Well that is all the pics of past projects I have for now.  Next time I think I am going to go over the massive list of projects I have yet to come by Christmas. This way you can know what to look forward to see me make.  I am planing on doing a post for each project like I did for the Aromatic Eye Pillows. Until next time.   :-)

Aromatic Eye Pillows

As promised here is a detailed look at the eye pillows I've been making.  It is a very simple knit just stocking stitch (knit one row then purl the next) the whole time.  There is a little decreasing & increasing for the nose but it is basic, made one side at a time.

Materials needed:

Size 6 striaght needles

1 skein of Lion Brand Micro Spun Yarn (one skein will make 3 eye pillows)

Tapestry needle

Crochet hook (I used a size D)

knee highs

Rice

Lavender

Here is what a completed side looks like each side takes me about an hour.

                                     

Now we need the filling.  Using knee highs rice & lavender. The pattern calls to just use one knee high & sew the end shut but I like that I can just tie the two together in a knot & not worry about the rice & lavender not being evenly distributed.

Now we hand sew the two pieces together w/ a tapestry needle.  I keep the fill out until I just have the bottom left to sew together then I place it back in.

At the very end I use a crochet hook to pull the ends inside of the eye pillow so they don't end up sticking out at all. Then we are done!!

They are wonderful.  I made the first one for my self to help w/ headaches & now even my 4 year old is in love with them.  They force you eyes to relax and after looking at books, computers & TV all day it was quite the wow to me at first cause I couldn't believe how relaxing it was.  Also a wonderful thing they do is keep all the light out!  I mean completely I was sitting in my living room lights & TV on & couldn't see a speck of light. This also helps w/ my headaches/migraines when they are light sensitive.  

Again this pattern can be found for free at www.lionbrand.com. You do have to sign up which is also free but then you can use the search box & it'll bring you right to it if you search for it by name.

Yarn, Yarn everywhere but I still need more I think.

So I started organizing all the yarn I've purchased over the last 3 weeks to help get ready to just go from project to project.  I quickly filled 3 of the 4 bins I got from Costco & then filled the last one w/ Sugar n' Cream(aka Cotton washcloth yarn) I already had laying around.

When I went to Ben Franklin Crafts the other day they had some really pretty washcloth yarn I couldn't resist.

I really love the Sugar N Cream twist because it makes the project looked speckled.  So the first two bins will all be washcloths, kitchen towels & pot holders. The washcloth takes me around 45 min to make one & you can get an average of 2 from the twist & about 2 1/2 from the solid colors.  I like to mix the yarns when I make them so I will have stripes of solid & twist in most of then & then on solid one in the set of 3 as well. 

Also at Ben Franklin I picked up the yarn to make my boys knitted snakes for Christmas. 

                                    

I don't know if I am going to use the brown on them but the yarn was on sale so I got one of each color it is a 50% cotton 50% acrylic blend & it feels very nice.  I wanted to make sure it was cotton cause my youngest will be 6 months at Christmas & it will go right in his mouth to chew on.  This is one of those size 3 Double pointed needle projects that can really get my fingers hurting but they will be around 2 feet long and I am planning on putting some pipe cleaners in them so they can be wrapped around arms or railings. 

My next post I am planing on sharing pics of my Aromatic Eye Pillows I have almost 4 of them complete now. :-)

Starting projects early this year!

Hello,  This is my first blog EVER.  I find it hard to believe it but here I am actually typing my first entry.  For a very long time I have wanted to blog but I didn't know what I wanted it to be about & I finally decided to start one about my hobby, Knitting.

I started knitting about 7 years ago now and I love everything about it. Well not the pain I get in my fingers from working w/ size 3 or smaller needles for hours on end but I love the results I get from it.  I started out knitting scarves & washcloths and found it very relaxing.  The Washcloths are a big hit w/ everyone every Christmas.  People let me know in advance that they are in need of new ones. Well my knitting has progressed over the years to blankets, slippers, toys, purses & I love felting things. Friends have been trying to convince me to start an etsy account & sell my knitted goods I have the account set up but nothing for sale in my store yet.

I try to make homemade gifts for Christmas & they don't always get completed because I just don't make time to knit. I frankly don't know how I've been making time to knit right now.  I just had my second child & I am on maternity leave but going from one kid to two has been quite the difference I thought for sure all my free time was gone forever & yet here I am knitting with every spare minute I have it seems, which isn't many.

I have purchased so much yarn in the last 3 weeks I think I am going fiber crazy!  I can not stop thinking about new projects & starting Christmas presents.  Last year I had all my projects ready in Aug & didn't start knitting until Nov.  Needless to say I didn't even get some washcloth gifts done.  So this year I am already knitting away! :-)   My goal has been all year to try to seriously do a craft fair & see how my creations sell.  If they go well I am going to get serious about the etsy shop I have sitting in cyberspace waiting for me.

My most resent project is an Aromatic Eye Pillows made from Lion Brand Micro Spun, a free pattern I found on lionbrand.com, filled w/ rice & lavender. WOW I LOVE IT!! I finished mine & posted the picture on Facebook & instantly started getting orders from friends & family.  So I am thinking this & the wash cloth & pot holder set will be the big sellers at the craft fair.

I am hoping to use this blog to share my progress, creations & the joy I get from giving a handmade gift. And if the craft fair goes well I'll share my etsy shop as well.