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.