Monday, December 3, 2012

Knitted borders and simple star ornament

I weave as well as knit. I find that a lot of the knitted borders look great on Triloom shawls.... You can even make a small 4 foot Triloom piece into a nice shawl with a lace knitted border. Why combine the two... If you have yarn you really love and want to make a shawl out of it but you don't have enough yardage to knit a big piece... Plus the weaving can be a bit faster. For now I am simple lace knitter...hopefully I will venture into more complicated designs.

 

This is a cute little Christmas star pattern knitted from www.yarn.com. It is easy and fun and free.

 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Easy lace shawl

This was knitted using the easy lace shawl pattern from Ravelry. I used sublime chunky yarn, size 15 needles

 

 

Boneyard shawl

This is knitted from the boneyard shawl pattern free on Ravelry. I used Madelinetosh vintage worn denim.. Four skeins.. Border is islet three row garter islet three rows garter then pico bind off

 

 

 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Entrelac

Still Spindling away with my Spindling class on Craftsy. I also started the Entrelac class. It is fantastic. I am working on the first project. It is a circular scarf. Even though both of the yarns I am using are worsted weight the grey one is heavier and that is making it a little odd but still doable. Here is a picture of my progress

The instructor for the class is terrific. Her name is Gwen Bortner. She is really great at how she gives you information. Her presentation is clear and concise, if you ever have a chance to take a class with her, do it. I am horrible at picking up stitches but so far I seem to be doing ok with this. Even a relatively new knitter can take this class since she explains it so well. And at least this project becomes so simple you do not need a chart or instructions after the first couple rounds.

 

Monday, October 1, 2012

Breed specific yarn

I am taking a class on breed specific wool on craftsy. It is really fun and FREE. What has been eye opening for me is the differences from one breed to another. For my swatches of the breed yarns I am knitting.. But I might also try some rectangular woven swatches, at least with the Jacob. This breed of sheep are so beautiful. Here is a picture of the natural yarn

 

Beautiful isn't it

Below is a knitted swatch of Cormo. I got this from elsawool and have s skein of woolen spun and worsted spun yarn. This spinning has nothing to do with the worsted weight..that is a separate quality. What a difference in the two types of yarn. The woolen spun is fluffy and springy whereas the worsted spun is silky and smooth. I think for continuous strand weaving I prefer woolen spun yarn... I will swatch the worsted spun just to be sure.

Swatch of Cormo Woolen spun yarn from Elsa Wool in worsted weight.

 

 

Finished blocked shawls

 
I finally blocked my Mara Shawl and my practice Mara Shawl. Keep in mind with regard to my color choices on the practice.. I used yarn from my stash.. I was really scrambling to get over 600 yards of yarn of the same type from my stash that was a worsted or dk weight.

Here is Mara

 

Here is my practice Mara shawl

 

 

 

 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Mara Shawl...Almost finished

My Mara shawl is completely knitted but not yet blocked. I have two versions to block..my first one which was my trial version and this one... I think the Spindling has been slowing down my knitting... But it is all so much fun.

 

 

 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

First Yarn spun on spindle

 
Well I have been busy watching videos and playing with wool roving. Some roving I bought at a farmers market and some I bought online. The blue is merino and the orange is Corriedale. They were both nice. The Corriedale roving was really soft and fluffy..but when I washed it it got a little fuzzier but the merino stayed softer. Here is a picture of my first yarn... It has all kinds of lumps. But the texture knits up really nicely...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I really recommend trying spinning with a spindle. With a wooden dowel, a wooden disk from hobby lobby, a hook, and a drill ..you can make a spindle for less than 5 dollars. You can make a lazy Kate out of a big shoe box and some long knitting needles. And you can make a great niddy noddy with PVC for about 5 dollars.

Here is a picture of my 3 spindles. The one on the far right is a louet and it is nice but over priced. The middle one is one made from hobby lobby materials and actually faster than the louet spindle. The one on the left is just made from a dowel and a square of scrap wood. Since I am just starting I am using park and draft method... So why not have a spindle that won't roll around when I park it.

Here is a picture of my PVC niddy noddy.

 

 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Mara Shawl Pattern and spindling

I am still progressing on the mara shawl pattern.   Right now I am working on the 2by2 ribbed edging.   This part will probably take me at least 10 hours to do.

 I am also trying to learn to spindle.   I am using the craftsy online course and have an instructor.   So far with my instructor I have learned to make rolags using cards, we have just started using a hook to spindle the rolags.   I have a bit of a hard time drafting consistently.   I ordered my spindle for the craftsy course.  I hope it comes in the next week because I am really excited to try that.  Learning to spin with a spindle is a lot cheaper than buying a spinning wheel.  I am not sure but I imagine one of the hardest things for beginners is learning to draft well.     I will post a few pictures of my poorly made yarn bits with the hook.   You have to start somewhere.

I find that when I card the wool to make it into rolags... if I do it for too long it really bothers my allergies.   Yesterday my eyes were itching, I was sneezing.   I have knitted with tons of wool yarn and worn wool clothing without a problem.. so I am a little surprised by this.  

Sunday, August 26, 2012

MochiMochi break

I am about one half way through the Madelinetosh shawl that I am knitting. I have over 200 stitches on my needles for every row... and I am not close to doing the border. I decided to take a little break and knit some mini Mochimochis. I have knitted the armadillo, the island, and the firecracker. I used a sock Yarn by SWTC called Tofutsies. I think this is the best yarn to knit mini Mochimochis out of. It does not split easily and it is easy to tell what stitch you have made. My only complaint is the lack of diversity of colors. I really enjoy making minis from this yarn.

This Island was great fun to make!

You are the bomb with this cute little fire cracker.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Madelinetosh yarn

Two weeks ago I downloaded a free shawl pattern for Madelinetosh yarn. I wanted to try it first in a yarn that I had in my stash. I did not have any worsted weight yarn of the same color with enough yards for the shawl. So I mixed colors. Although I am not a fan of pastels the shawl turned out fine.. And now I have started on it with this yummy delicious yarn from Madelinetosh. The pictures do not do the yarn justice... It fails to show the beautiful delicate color variations. The yarn color is cherry and this is their DK yarn...previously their light worsted weight.

The name of the pattern is Mara, by Madelinetosh and it is free and really easy... A bit long in the end when I had over 500 stitches on my needles but that was only for four inches.... Functional and Beautiful.

http://www.yarn.com/resources/Yarn/docs/discdpatterns/Tosh-MaraV3.pdf

Monday, August 6, 2012

Plainfield shawl pattern

The shawl pattern I knitted earlier was the Plainfield shawl pattern from http://www.yarn.com. I decided to try to knit this in a stockinette stitch pattern. Since the yarn was cotton even with blocking the edge still curled a lot so I added a very simple lace edging... Just 4 rows in the pattern. It added knitting time but I love the look. I knitted the edging onto the shawl as I went.. I found it worked the best when I did it at the end each purl row. I just did a purl two together with the edging stitch and a stitch from the shawl.

 

Mini Break

I have been knitting shawls for a while, so I decided to knit a few mini mochimochis. These are from Anna Hrachovec book, "Teeny-Tiny Mochimochis". I used KnitPicks fingering weight yarn.

Love those fried eggs.

 

Mini-Dinosaur

Low carb, low calorie, delicious cupcake.

For writers block we use one of these

 

My set of goodies, knitted cupcake, knitted pencil, knitted fried egg, and knitted dinosaur.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Blocking wool!

The first shawl I knitted was out of a cotton and acrylic blend. It was a bit finicky to block and while the lace pattern opened up some it was not crisp. The following piece was knitted in an all wool yarn and it was great to block. This is another experimental piece. I was going to rip it out since I ran out of the right color of yarn. Someone convinced me not to. I am glad that they did because I have cute little scarf. The pattern is from the book "Wendy Knits Lace". It is really easy. I highly recommend beginner lace knitters knit with wool and wool blend yarns. It is so gratifying to see your lace pattern open up and stay that way easily.

 
 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Easy shawl pattern

 
I have always wanted to knit a lace shawl but my life does not give me large chunks of free time for lace knitting. I saw this pattern looking through the webs catalogue. It is the only pattern that I have ever paid for and I am glad that I did. I finished this pattern in less than a week. I used some yarn from my stash that I thought I would never use. This was supposed to be my practice version, if it turned out I would buy the yarn that the pattern was made for. I think this turned out nice enough to use.
 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Seven Day Knitted Throw

Well I did it. I knitted this throw in seven days and used up some otherwise useless yarn.

It is about 34" by 50" and very soft. Here is a picture

It has not been blocked yet. That will happen later today.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

knitting challenge

This week I have given myself a knitting challenge.  I am trying to knit a throw in a week.  My goal is to knit 1 ball of yarn a day.  It is a super bulky yarn so it should not be too hard to do.   Today is day 7 and so far I have knitted 6 balls of yarn.   This is yarn I had sitting around and had no idea what to do with.  I am doing a very simple throw.. just you basic garter stitch border with stockinette as the main part.   I am loving doing this.    I love the relaxation this brings me.. In a half hour I am so relaxed I could fall asleep..   Hopefully by the end of today I will be done.  Tomorrow I will post a picture.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Reluctantly crocheting

I am trying my hand at a little bit of crochet. This is an outfit for a bear and it was just a swatch of single crochet. I love the way it turned out. It went really fast. One nice thing about crochet is that I can still do it when I have a child in my lap. I could not knit with my lap full.

 

 

Saturday, June 30, 2012

yummy delicious yarn

I found this yarn in my stash the other day and decided to start playing with it.  It is incredible.   It is so soft that you will never want to stop touching it.  It is by Plymouth Yarn and is is called Baby Bunny.  The content is 60% cotton, 30% modal, and 10% angora.    I have been using it to try to learn to crochet.   Why crochet when you can knit ?    I find it is a little easier to work with cotton yarns when you crochet.   For now I am keeping myself to single, double and triple crochet.   I am just learning.   I still love knitting.   However I saw these beautiful tops in the Chico's catalog and they were  crocheted and very expensive.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Another bear

This bear was knitted with Lambs Pride Bulky and felted. Lambs pride felts into a really nice stuffed toy.

 

 

 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Lattice lace scarf

This is my latest endeavor. It is from a free lace pattern that I found online. Although the yarn feels beautiful, it is a bit tricky to work with. It snags a lot. The yarn is by Aslantrends Fantasy Luxury yarn, it is called Litoral. If you use this yarn consider using circular needles.. It is such a slippery yarn that on my attempt with large needles it went over big edge at the end of the needle. It is incredibly soft and drapes well.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Bear birth...


Here is my most recent bear... Finished.
I used Reynolds Lopi yarn and felted it a lot to give it a soft fuzzy feel.
 

Monday, June 4, 2012

Unknown yarn type?...

I am trying to discover the name of this yarn. It is so nice and soft... I think it has some mohair in it. It is a bulky weight yarn but it still feels light

 

 

Bear

Bear in progress.

 

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tri-Loom for continuous strand weaving

I have been thinking about getting a bigger loom for continuous strand weaving.    The prices on them can get quite expensive over 300$.   I know for a weaving loom that is not a lot.. but still.    I know somewhere I can get one made in pine for a little over $100.    I checked with some other folks that have experience and they recommended against pine,  since it is a soft wood.  

I don't see them used much on the web.. or that would be an option.  I am thinking of trying to make one myself.   It seems that the wood costs should not be terrible.  The construction seems relatively straight forward.     The hardest part might be drilling all of the holes.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

continuous loop weaving - getting it through.

I like to use a crochet hook to help me get it through the weft - the strands of yarn on the long side of the triangle or hypotenuse.



continuous loop weaving with Lambs Pride Bulky Yarn

I have several hanks of Lambs pride bulky yarn and wondered what it would look like woven into squares

Monday, May 21, 2012

tri-loom finished sample squares

Here are some squares that I finished on the tri-loom.   I wove one triangle on top of the other.
I think I like them best with a thicker yarn(The purple).. although it goes a bit slower..
In knitting you would block this.  I am not sure if you do with weaving.. I will have to research it a bit.


tri-loom continuous strand weaving

Took a mini class on continuous strand weaving.  It was tons of fun.  We used these mini-looms that
are 18 inches.  This was practice for the bigger loom.. the 6+ foot one.    This is a great way for knitters to use up their stash.  These looms are easy to store.. just hang them on the wall and fun to use.   For a warmer climate they create a nice lightweight weave.  Here is a picture of weaving on the tri-loom in progress:


Sunday, May 20, 2012

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Ed the Explorer ...yarn choice

One of the reasons I am happy with how Ed turned out is the yarn choice.  I used Gedifra Extra Soft Merino.   It is a super wash merino wool.  It is a bit splitty for a beginner.. over 9 months ago when I first got this yarn I hated it, now with a lot more knitting experience under my belt I love it.   It has a nice smooth finish which is perfect for a face.. and it wears beautifully.    My son has a mini teddy that I knitted out of it.. that has been well loved and it does not show much wear.  This is a really nice yarn... but it took me a while to figure that out :-)





Monday, May 14, 2012

Mousie


This is the second mouse I knitted from "Knitted Toy Tales" by Laura Long.  It is a really fast and easy knit.    For this toy just make the ears single sided.. since they are so tiny it doesn't matter that the  "wrong" side shows.


Ed the Explorer

Here is a picture of Ed the Explorer.  He is from Laura Long's book, "Knitted Toy Travels":


He took a long time to knit and he is about 18-20 inches.    The hair I ended up ripping out and trying again.  I found it easier to use a thinner yarn for the hair.. it doesn't puff  up as much and looks more natural.    I plan on making him a winter coat, hat, and mittens.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Severe knitting withdrawl

I have been going through severe knitting withdrawl.. so much so that I am enjoying watching Kirby's Epic Yarn.   This has to be one of the cutest video games around.  It is for the Wii.. and Kirby is yarn and his weapon of choice is yarn..  The game has giant knitting needles.. patchwork quilts.. the villians turn into buttons.   You can buy the game a low price since it has been out  a while.  Also the music is really nice too.. not your typical annoying video game music.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

easter knitting

I have been busy knitting easter bunnies for my gang.  They are really cute.  I used Kertzer Chenille
yarn.  It is really sweet and soft.  The bunnies turned out great.   I am now working on knitting Ed the Explorer. So far he is turning out great but I am having a hard time with his hair.. so for now he is bald Ed the Explorer.   I will post pictures when I get a chance.


Monday, March 26, 2012

This little piggy...

Just finished this little piggy.. he is from the Laura Long book.  We think he is cute.  I knitted the ears a little differently than she calls for in the book.  I knitted them two sided in the round so I would have a stiffer ear and not have to use fabric.  My guys prefer not to have girly fabric on their toys. :-)   I have found this technique to be useful in some of her patterns.

a front view of piggy
A side view of piggy