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.

Converted?

I can now crochet.

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

I have a few FO's, but I just moved and all of my fun digital stuff is packed away somewhere. So stay tuned! This summer is bound to be full of many updates to this wonderful blog.

A scarf ... in the summer?

My friend Erin is going to Boston University next year, so I decided to make her a scarf to use. (Winters there are much cooler than here in good old Indianapolis.) I gave it to her before I took pictures because I'm a genius like that, but anyway ... I used the "Grass" green Thick-n-Quick, casted on 12 stitches, and garter stitched for about five-and-a-half feet or so. At the end I made up a pattern that was an 'e' for her first initial; it's there but kind of hard to see because it was the first time I had attempted anything of the sort. I discovered that putting a pattern into a garter stitch doesn't really work. Next time I'll make a stockinette stitch scarf and try an initial again. Or something. we'll see.

I am current working on Cleaves, a cabled hat from Stitch-n-Bitch Nation, a pair of Pedicure socks, and Clapotis. Once I graduate and move home I will be able to finish everything (I hope). This whole last-semester-of-senior-year thing really has put a damper in my knitting output. Such a shame.

Bye.

A few FO's

Wow, it's been a while. So here are some FO's.





These are baby booties I made for my newest cousin. One picture has a pose with my hand to show how tiny they are. So cute!



I got a new cellphone over Spring Break, so naturally I made a new cellphone holder to keep it in. The yarn magically matches my new Lomography bag that I got over Break as well. Hooray to that.



For good measure, here is a new pin I got while in Bowling Green this week. It is Pac-Man eating veggies, and it says "Veggies Rule!" I enjoy.

Bye for now!

Arm-Warmers, Skinny Scarf

Here are some pictures of more projects I have started up in the last few days:



This is the beginning of some cute arm-warmers. They'll go knuckles to elbow, and will be nice to have for windy spring days. Hopefully I'll have them finished by the time I hangout downtown next week. :)



This is going to be an ultra-cute skinny scarf for my friend Kassie. The second picture shows the "wrong side" of the scarf, which is a 1x2 rib pattern. The third picture is the "right side" which is a mock-cable pattern. The ends will have long fringe, and the scarf is going to be super long so she can wrap it around a few times and be all movie-star like.

After I get some more of these UFO's finished I'm going to make my best friend Matt some socks. Those would be the only things I could make that he would actually use I think. hehe. Bye.

Easy spring wrist-warmers, Basic cable hat

Here are the cute little wrist-warmers I am making. They are pure white, and knit with size 5 needles. Tiny stitches! The process went by pretty quickly, however, due to hours of sitting at Mozart rehearsals without much else to do. They are most likely going to a friend as part of a birthday gift.



And that is the hat I am making my brother. The orange is really fun. At the moment I am stuck, because I don't have size 8 double-pointed needles, but a friend of mine from school has some that she said I could borrow to finish this project. I should probably invest in some of my own.

The kittyville hat is completed, but I'm not going to put up any pictures until Steph gets them. ha!

Project Update

Ear 1 is now completed; all I need to do now is make ear 2 and make some pom-poms. Exciting!

During Mozart rehearsals I've been making small spring-time fingerless gloves out of a pretty white sport-weight acryllic yarn. Hand 1 is finished, and hand 2 is about half-way finished.

I received my interchangeable needle kit yesterday, so I will be starting a few hat projects very soon. I am making my brother a hat out of Red Heart Hokey Pokey in Tangerine (which is unfortunately discontinued), and probably the cabled Newsboy hat from Stitch-n-Bitch Nation.

When I'm at home and not procrastinating the accomplishment of my homework I will take some progress pictures. Bye.

Keyhole Scarf, Model Change

Well, since I am not very photogenic, I figured I would use a model. If you can't tell, that model is the one and only Ronnie Gardocki, male of the 645 household. He looks pretty suave in that second shot if I don't say so myself. :)

The Kittyville Hat is almost complete; I'm scared of finishing the ears because I feel like I'm not doing them correctly. But I know Steph will like it anyway, so we'll see. Hopefully that will be finished within the next week.

I've also started Cleaves using some super nice Classic Yarns Soft Tweed yarn. The whole double-pointed needle thing isn't going very well. I might have to cheat a bit on this project, we'll see.

Today I also started an afghan for Warm the World. The yarn I have to work with is really just a bunch of scraps and incomplete skeins, so I'm making some panels/squares and then I'll crochet them together. Should be cute.

More pictures will be up in the next few days of my WIPs and FOs. Bye.

Yorick Scarf and Project Updates

Hooray! Pictures of my Yorick scarf! I ended up using a 100% acryllic instead of wool (the vegan in me is happy about that), so I didn't felt it like the pattern wanted. But oh man, it is so soft and fun to wear. It's also pretty damn punk rock if I might say so. My housemate Lisa said I was the ultimate Alkaline Trio fan due to making this scarf. Naturally I was honored to have such a grand title bestowed upon myself.

Up next: Windy City Keyhole Scarf, and the Official Kittyville Hat! More pics will come when those are finished. Here are some pictures of what I have done so far:

Windy City Keyhole Scarf:


Official Kittyville Hat:


Later!

Irish Cable Arm Warmers

Well, I finally finished these bad boys. I found the pattern at this blog, and used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted Weight in Rose Heather. They are nice and warm and wonderful. I made the thumb-holes a bit bigger than the pattern stated, partially because I like more room to move my thumbs around and partially because I have manly-like hands.