Fingerless Gloves

This project is honestly about 7 years in the making & here is why.....  As a newly married woman who learned to knit about a year earlier I wanted to take on another project besides washcloths & scarves so what did I choose? A set of fingerless gloves for my DH. So DH & I went & picked out some worsted weight acrylics yarn. It took me quite a while to get them done but I did it only to find out they were to big & bulky for him to wear. :-(  I was so sad I spent back then literally months making these & they are useless. So fast forward to the next winter. I decide that I am going to pull it all out & roll the yarn back up & remake them. I only ever got to pulling them out I never remade them. YEARS go buy & every winter I tell him I need to remake his gloves & every winter it never happens. Well with all the the gifts I was making this year & how my knitting seems to have taken flight. I thought I am REALLY going to make them this year & we address the problems w/ the previous ones & decided to get new yarn.

So off to the craft store we go & he remembers that the worsetd weight yarn was way to thick. He is using these while he flies RC airplanes & he wants to be able to feel his transmitter(aka controller) thru the gloves. So what does he pick out?????? Sock Yarn.  So I found a pattern for gloves from Patton's that used the exact sock yarn we got & size 2 DPN. SIZE 2!?!?!  I have never knitted a project w/ needles that small. Size 3 yes but never Size 2's. Well I started it while I was also knitting my SIL purse & all the hats for Christmas so the first glove took me over a month cause I really rather work on hats w/ chunky yarn & size 10's then super fine weight yarn w/ size 2's. And because the last pair was to big I had him doing test fits on them every couple inches. The second glove I did in only a few days. I am proud to say that they are a major success & he loves them.  They only took 7 years but hey at least I got them right this time. ;-)

12 Hats for Christmas

In my family we give presents to all the "kids", ages ranging from 6months (my baby) to 18 years old, presents. Well w/ maternity leave from June-Oct money was a little tighter than normal. So I decided to order allot of bulky yarn from www.joann.com & make all the kids hats & heck while I'm at it I'll make two extra for the family gift exchange.  This was a grand total of 12 hats & all this while I was also knitting my SIL purse, which she loved BTW. (see my previous blog "For the love of Felting" for pics)

So I ordered 8 skeins of Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky yarn & started searching for Chunky hat patterns on ravelry.com.  I had to improvise on a few but here they are:

This pattern was called the "Man Hat" I made it for my 18 year old Male cousin. I also made a 2nd one for the Adult family gift exchange & my Dad ended up w/ it & I never thought my Dad would have wanted a hat from me. I've only ever seen him wear one when I was very young but he seemed very excited & please w/ it. My DH has also put in a request for this hat. It is such a great pattern & turns out thick & warm.

This next one was a little tricky. I found a slouchy hat pattern that was close to the hat from Hot Topic that my 14(I think) year old cousin.  The pattern had the same spacing between the ribbing but was for a slouchy hat not a Barret like the Hot Topic one. Well once it was knitted it wouldn't slouch AT ALL, EEEKKK!!!  I guess my chunky yarn was chunkier than the yarn they used. So I started to brain storm & decided to turn it into a Barret.  I put it around a plate & sprayed the top w/ water knowing my yarn was 20% wool that if I added some heat to this equation it should(hopefully) shrink the middle together enough that I could make this work.  & here is how it turned out.

This next was was a Barret patten I just made up as I went.  I used 3 sizes of knitting needles because when I started it I thought I had DPN's in a size I didn't have. So I CO(casted on) the stitches w/ size 9's  so it would be tighter around the head then switch to size 13's to make it bigger & looser w/o having to add stitches & then finding out when it came time to decrease no 13 DPN's I used size 11's LOL!



Here are the most perfect Snow Hat's!  I made them for a brother & sister who are 6 & 3. (again I am guessing at some of the ages)

Here are Father & Son hat I made for my BIL & my nephew only to figure out at the last minute my nephews hat was way to small, so sad.

I also braved a cable needle for this first time EVER!!! I have always been so afraid of them & now I am able to tell all you knitters out there to fear not it is super easy!  Wish I would have know that years ago.  This hat was for my 12 year old cousin & I made the same hat in red for the adult family gift exchange & my SIL (same one I gave the purse too) ended up w/ it & she is very happy w/ it!



In addition to these 10 hats I made one for my FIL that I forgot to take a pic of. And I made one for my other SIL & started one for my newest niece but didn't get my nieces done after I realized that my nephews was to small, from the father & son hat set. So they still need to get them from me.  I took the Dec 22nd -26th off from knitting. I have actually purchased some knitting gloves by Lion Brand that seem to help w/ the wrist & arm cramps allot!  Come the 27th I got the itch that only my knitting needles could scratch & I am just finishing up my DH fingerless gloves. Look for them in my next blog! :-)

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.