So Making This

I found a sweet blog today:
http://www.vickiehowell.com

I don't have the DIY channel, so I don't get to watch awesome knitting shows. :( But. I am definitely making this capelet. I have perfect yarn for it. I may just take a break from Yorick to make it tonight. Crocheting is nice because it goes by so quickly.

Seed Stitch Scarf - Completed!

Hooray! After all of this time I finally finished the seed stitch scarf for my Auntie Connie.

This is the closest I could get to the actual color. It is Caron Simply Soft in Violet.

Detail of the seed stitch. I honestly feel that this is one of the most beautiful stitches out there.

Because it is wide and the seed stitch produces a looser fabric, it lays beautifully against a woman's chest.

I hope she likes it.

An Oldie but a Goodie

Tam posted a picture of one of her kitties that looks like Ronnie's long-lost twin, so I thought it would be appropriate to post a picture of Ronnie as reference.

He makes a great model, doesn't he?

While I'm here, I thought I would mention that I am jumping on the Norovember bandwagon. My contribution? A Here Comes the Sun purse. When I finish my aunt's scarf, Scott's watch cap, and my mom's Flora I'll start it. Oh man. So my projects. So little time.

Fetching, Take Two

I used recycled yarn for these. While they look really nice, cotton is not that great for small accessories like fingerless gloves. Wool is nice because it keeps you warm even when it is wet. Cotton? Absorbs moisture and doesn't keep you very warm at all. So I may use them, but they'll probably just end up in my FO bag that my cat likes to chew on.

My next goal is to finish my aunt's seed stitch scarf, then put together my mom's Flora scarf. Hopefully I can finish at least one watch cap and Yorick scarf before Thanksgiving. We'll see ... Tis the season for lots of projects to make for many people.

Chicago Flag ... Knit-style

This was partially inspired by the CanKnit website. Check it out!

Finally, a way to express my love of Chicago and knitting. :)

Knots X(

I just spent the better part of eight hours (not even joking) undoing a ridiculous knot in a skein of recycled cotton while winding it into a ball. It was awful. Awful. At least I can start working with it now.

I really hope my mom gets me a ball-winder for the holidays.

Future FO

I have decided to replace my dilapidated pair of convertible mittens/gloves with a pair of hand-made ones. What I think I'll do is make Fetching and then add a mitten cap like the one from Broad Street. I don't know if I want to tackle individual fingers just yet, and I like not having stuff in between my fingers. It should prove interesting. I'd like to use Cascade 220 in a nice canary yellow. I might end up using the Sunshine Swish Superwash that I bought from KnitPicks. I also have some nice recycled cotton from Knit One, Crochet Too. Hrm. Decisions, decisions.

Fetching: Completed!

I hope she uses them often!

Fetching - Left Hand

I am in the process of making Knitty's Fetching for a friend of mine, and last night I finished the left hand. Check it out!





It's a little small on me, which means it will be perfect for her. Yay. I should have the other one finished tonight.

Bath Rug!

Wow, another FO! Fabulous. I think I'm going to do a single crochet edging at some point. We'll see.

Heavens

This is rather (read: completely) off-topic for this blog, but I just love this song so yeah. Check it.

Flash Art!

I am taking a Flash class at BGSU (thanks to me being an "employee" I get to take these neato seminars for free), and I made my first piece of art!

The grey is supposed to be transparent, but whatever. This program is going to be fun to play around with.

Yarn Pr0n

Yes, that's right. I am exploiting my yarn.



The entire package. 9 skeins of KnitPicks Essential Superwash in Grass, 3 skeins of KnitPicks Swish Superwash in Bordeaux, and 1 skein of KnitPicks Swish Superwash in Sunshine. Yummy.



A close-up of the Swish Superwash. These two colors will make a pair of Rollergirl Legwarmers from SNB Nation. The Bordeaux color will be the MC, and Sunshine will be the CC. My leftover Sunshine will be used to make a flower for a Here Comes the Sun bag.



This Grass colored Essential Superwash will be for Lucky, the lace cardigan/wrap from SNB Nation.

I am so so so excited to get working on these projects. But it's not like I don't have a bunch of other UFO's floating around. haha.

Kitty Mousie Toy!

I whipped this up tonight in about half an hour (while watching Futurama DVD's).



You'll need:
- some worsted weight yarn
- sz. 8 knitting needles
- sz. F crochet hook
- 100% polyester filling

Body:
Using knitting needles, CO 20 sts. Work in garter stitch (knit each row) until you have a square (about 20 rows). Bind off all stitches. Leave a tail of about 4 inches (kitties love yarn!).

Ears (make 2):
Using crochet hook, ch 2.
6 sc into second ch from hook.
2 sc into each sc (12 stitches).
Do not join. This leaves a 'flat' area that works well for attaching to body.

Fold body of mouse diagonally, and sew together two edges. Make sure you do this so that the tail is hanging at the open end of the cone shape. Sew on crocheted ears, then stuff with polyester filling. Fold down the top and sew shut.

And there you have it. A cute little mousie for a happy little kitty!

Fabulous Vegan Banana-Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup of vegan margarine
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar
- 2 "eggs" using an Ener-G egg replacer
- 1/2 tsp. of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1-2 ripe mashed bananas
- handful of fresh blueberries
- vegetable shorting (for greasing pans if you do not use non-stick)

Steps:
- Cream brown sugar and margarine.
- Add egg replacer and mix well.
- Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder.
- Sift in dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with soy milk.
- Add mashed bananas and blueberries.

For muffins:
- Place in greased muffin tin; makes six large or twelve medium sized muffins.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes.

For bread:
- Place in greased bread loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.



Enjoi!

Events on the Horizon

By luck I discovered some fantastic fabric!



It's called "Calaveras" (Skulls), and apparently you can get it at some Joann Fabrics stores. I'll be heading to the one here in BG tomorrow to try and find it. I really want to make my own seat cushion for my wooden rocking chair in my living room, and this fabric would be amazing for it. Either that or I'll use some to make a hand-bag. I'm hoping to get a sewing machine for Xmas.

As far as knitting goes, I am in the process of making Flora for my mom. Shhhh, it's a secret! I'm making it out of super soft Caron Simply Soft in Raspberry. After screwing around to get the gauge right, I found that I had to go up to US10's and hold two strands together. I want to make sure this is absolutely perfect. If I can manage to get my homework done tomorrow then I'll be able to get this done on Monday, which just so happens to be Labor Day. It will be a labor of love. Corney, yeah. Whatever. Flora is a quick knit, so I should have some pictures up by the end of the week.

Ciao.

Cleaves

Well, I finished Cleaves.



And it looks dumb! Well, I mean, it's not that bad. The problem is that my boobs are just too big to be accurately covered by the cowl part of the garment. That and my bind-off is way too tight. Also, I have very broad shoulders; I tried to compensate by knitting the sleeves sz. M and the cowl sz. L but I guess I should have done sz. XL. *sigh* I'm going to block it tomorrow and see what happens.

In more exciting news, I ordered a bunch of yarn from KnitPicks yesterday! I'll be making Lucky and Roller Girl Legwarmers, both from Stitch n Bitch Nation. Lucky will be made with Essential in Grass, and the Legwarmers will be in Swish Superwash Bordeaux (purpley) and Sunshine (yellow). I'll use the leftover yellow to make the flower for Here Comes the Sun knitted purse, which I will be making with my two skeins of Noro Kujaku.

More later! I have a few scarves that are almost finished. yay

Emily's Basic Mitered Square

Well, this isn't exactly an original pattern, but I did make up this variation on my own (as far as I know). So if you want to give it a whirl go for it and let me know how it turns out for you!

Mitered Square:
- Worsted weight yarn (really any kind will work)
- sz. 9 needles (you can go up or down to change your gauge)

CO 40 sts.
Row 1 (WS): k across
Row 2 (RS): k 18, k2tog, k2tog, k18 (36 sts remain)
Row 3 (WS): k across
Row 4 (RS): k 17, k2tog, k2tog, k17 (32 sts remain)
Row 5: k across
Row 6: k 16, k2tog, k2tog, k16
Continue in established pattern until only 4 sts remain.
Row 38 (RS): k2tog, k2tog (2 sts remain)
Row 39 (WS): k across
Row 40: k2tog (1 st remains)
Row 41: k 1, pull yarn through and cut.

Here is the result (at least for me!):



I made these with the same yarn - Sugars 'n Cream - with two strands held together. The smaller is on the sz. 9 (as called for by the pattern above), the second is on sz. 13. Using two strands makes the squares nice and thick; I use the first one as a potholder and hotpad in the kitchen. I am going to make a few more of the second bigger square, seam them all together, and use them as a bathrug.

So there you have it!

Travel Knits

A photo-journal of the progression of a scarf.



It's amazing what flying/vacationing can do for a person's project completion time.

Also, check out AuraLee's first granny square! I taught her how to crochet last night and now she's a hooker just like me. Heh.



The Short 'n Sweet Bolero from Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker is almost finished! I'll have pictures up in the next few days. Hooray!

Double-Cable Scarf

As promised, a few shots of a FO. This is the Double-Cable Scarf from One Skein. It was made on size 9 needles with Cascade 220 Tweed #619. I made it for Dr. Stan Kleppinger, a former professor and mentor of mine.

There are a few other projects that I am almost finished with, and I'll make sure to put up some shots of those soon.