For the Love of Felt
Well, once I was finished with Jordan’s toque I figured it was time to finish something for me! I know this is rare in my knitting but I thought it might be time to actually finish something without a particular deadline. I think the reason I finish the projects that I give away is that there are specific deadlines: Christmas, birthdays, thanksgiving, etc. With projects for myself there is rarely a particular time I need it for so they tend to get pushed to the bottom of the pile.
I saw this skein of Manos del Uruguay in the shop a few months ago and I immediately knew I had to pick it up for my mum. Everyone has their colors that they gravitate to and hers are the colors of fall. Rich reds, oranges, browns and the occasional buttery yellow. This skein of kettle dyed wool had it all. I was at a bit of a loss with what to do with it when I came across a pattern for felted potholders in Joelle Hoverson’s ‘Last Minute Knitted Gifts’. I put my lovely skein together with a rich chocolate brown border and they turned out great! She loved the colors (of course) and she used them under the scrambled eggs at Thanksgiving brunch. I love it when things are pretty and functional!
(the potholder is in the lower left corner)
You’re probably wondering why this is a project for me…..the answer is: it isn’t. This felting project got me thinking about a project I have had on hold for a few weeks (months) now, some felted snug boots. These babies are just for me! They have a lovely cream exterior and a warm orange interior to keep my feel toasty in the coming winter months. I have one down (and have for a while) and one to go. My plan is to finish them before I put anything else on my plate. I wish myself luck!
A Cap Disaster
My charming little brother, Jordan, came to me the other day with a knitting request: he needed a new toque. Now, my brothers (and the men in my life in general) rarely come to me with crafting requests so I feel the need to oblige when they do. Mostly I just decide they need something and knit it for them, no muss, no fuss. So, my mission was set out before me in fairly simple terms, a toque, maybe with some earflaps.
I pondered my mission, what color? What fiber? How important is washability? How shall I design it? Should it roll, should I include the earflaps? Finally I settled on a beautiful variegated green in the Malabrigo Worsted. I set to designing and came up with a simple, yet effective toque with just enough style….or so I thought. A few weeks later (I am as surprised as you are that I managed to finish his toque so far in advance of his birthday) my brother rolled across a photograph of the toque I had made him. “I want something like that, but with bigger earflaps, and with different colors, maybe with a design on it” he says to me. I shot him the look of death.
I had two choices: I could give up on knitting him something and enjoy my new awesome green toque or I could accept his challenge and create his dream cap. I think you know which option I chose. I had 1 week to design and knit the Jordan’s perfect toque. I pumped him for some more details and once I felt I had a good idea of what he wanted I was off to the races. This is what I came up with. Some fairly neutral colors with a little punch of green in the snowflakes. Stockinette stitch with some big earflaps and a design on it, just what Jordan ordered. I crocheted around the edges to give it a more finished look and to add in a little more green. This cap took 4 skeins of Mirosol Sulka (a lovely combination of wool, alpaca, and silk).
To purchase my original toque pattern for the Earflap Cap, click here.
To purchase Jordan’s Toque pattern click here. Patterns are sent via email in a PDF format.
The Never Ending Blanket Project
Did you ever have a project that just seemed to go on forever? No matter how long you knit or how much yarn you use (around twice as much as you originally thought) it just never seems to end. This project for me is my Earth to Oc
ean blanket. I originally miscalculated the amount of yarn and had to double it (I measured the added length, not the added square footage, whoops) which was already getting a little out of control. Then, when I was about 2/3 of the way through that yarn I realized I needed even more! It is a beautiful blanket and I just keep telling myself ‘I’ve come this far’.
A word to the wise: always check your math twice!
Cashmere and Silk: a lethal combination
Although this lovely combination of cashmere and silk in Handmaiden’s Swiss Mountain Cashmere can be deadly to the wallet it is a dream for the needles and the neck. It’s like knitting and wearing a cloud.
At first I had a little trouble with the yarn and a lot of trouble with the stitch (Handmaiden crisscross scarf), but once I transferred it to my new Addi Lace needles and got the hang of things, it flew! I finished it in a week (not easy on 3.75mm needles) and it is gorgeous. Peridot is not really a color I would normally choose but I think I’ve been won over. Perhaps something subtle is just the wardrobe addition I need after all, I’ve been doing a lot of really bright knitting lately and it was time to settle down with a gourmet fiber and a subtle, yet lovely, colorway.
This project was simple once I got started but offered just enough of a challenge to get started. I’m not sure I would do it again, the stitch pattern wasn’t quite worth the effort since it was pretty subtle and it made it nearly impossible to fix any mistakes I made. Perhaps a slightly easier stitch and I would be off to the races. The yarn, on the other hand, was a definite two thumbs up. I am thinking about a lovely pair of silk and cashmere fingerless gloves. Ravelry has a really great pattern called Porphyria. Something to think about!
A Debateable Button
If you can call yourself a fan of anything vintage, funky, antique-y, or ‘different’ you will know exactly what I am talking about with this button. There are always certain items we come across in our search for the most unique and cool crafting stuff that are somewhat debateable. The terms ‘funky’ and ‘vintage’ are fraught with danger. One person’s funky is another’s ugly and one person’s vintage is another person’s dated. In this free for all world of taste what is unique and cool and what is just plain odd?
My mother and I debate these items quite frequently. With slightly differing tastes (neither is better or worse, just different) we are often caught off guard by the others opinion on an item. I will hold something up in an antique store and at the same time I will say ‘awesome!’ and she will make the face that can only mean one thing: ugly. Sometimes one or the other can be convinced, but certainly not always. It all comes down to personal opinions and individual tastes.
My friend Robin and my Aunt Tessa are always on the cutting edge of tres chic. They knows just what will work and be cool and what is over the top or dated. I can never keep up but I am most often convinced when they tell me that something is hip. I know they are right because whenever I have second guessed them someone on the street or at a party or in a coffee shop will comment on the debateable item. Then I know I have been proven wrong, yet again!
I also find myself second guessing my own tastes. Once I am on a kick I have to think twice before purchasing, lest I end up with too many or too much. I know that an item is good if I walk away for about a week and I can’t stop thinking about it. That was the way with my debateable button.
When I first saw it at the button shop I overlooked it completely. Then Robin saw it and said ‘Wow!’. That should have been a guess that it was cutting edge cool. I walked away but I thought about that button (not obsessively, just passingly, I swear!). What would I put it on? What colors would it go well with. Should it be prominently featured in the garment? The list of questions goes on. I just didn’t know what to do about it. When I was back at the button shop I decided I could ponder the purchase no more: that button was mine!
Just when I thought I had made my decision on the button someone said “I didn’t know you were into old lady stuff”. My button-choosing confidence took a serious blow. I put away the button and didn’t give it another thought……until now. Some may like it and some may not but that makes it an interesting piece and I will walk the perilous lines of fashion! I’m planning on prominently featuring this button on a beautiful soft white Malabrigo Worsted.
Handmade Housewarming, Hostess, and Wedding Gifts
I knew this day would come, I just didn’t necessarily expect it so soon…everyone is getting married! You reach a certain point in your life and it seems like everyone is taking the plunge and tying the knot. Of course, as a crafter and as a fledgling photographer I could not be more excited and I immediately began to plot my crafting timeline for the summer.
Although three weddings may not seem like a lot to some, there are also some housewarmings, and other various summer shindigs to go to this summer. I like to have a gift for all occasions because, quite frankly, I like giving gifts. I love making them, purchasing them, and naturally the look on someones face when you get them just the right thing. This season I will need three wedding gifts, two housewarming gifts, a couple of birthday presents, and I always like to keep a few little hostess gifts on hand.
One of my new favorite projects that are quick, easy, and effective, are the organic cotton washclothes I found on the purlbee. They are strong and soft and can stand up to the machine washing and drying needed. I think this is a simple project (easy to do while having coffee with someone or watching a movie) but I think it is an effective one. While the purlbee suggests these washclothes as a wedding gift, I think I will use them as a housewarming. It works either way!
The project I am currently enamored with as a wedding present is a little something of my own design: A French Press Cozy and Tempered Glass Cozies. I am a great lover of coffee in all forms, morning, noon, and night. So I think a French press makes a great gift. Paired with these cute tempered glasses and perhaps some yummy organic coffee would be perfect! More on this project here.
I try to have a hostess gift on hand for any shindig I attend. While time sometimes makes this difficult it is a good idea to have a few on hand. Although a lot of people have the knitting skills to master the knitted dishcloth it still makes a great, and practical, gift. People are always appreciative and the clothes are simple to make. The yarn need not be too expensive and the time and concentration factors are minimal. A great thing to have on hand is a small stock pile so you can just tie them together with some lovely ribbon and a thank-you note. Remember: it’s really the thought that counts so it’s nice to get people something they can really use.
The other great little project is a little lavender satchet. Any yarn will do, simply knit 2 squares approximately 3-4 inches (the number of stitches and the size of needles will depend on your yarn) and then use a single crochet to attach them. Before you seam up the last little bit fill the satchet with lavender. There are many variations on the project with many different scented fillers and many different fibres. It is also a great project for that extra little scrap of yarn. The two sides of the satchet don’t even have to be the same!
Start to…..definitely no finish!
So I was surfing around the net yesterday and I realized I hadn’t blogged about my crafting projects in quite some time. I was thinking ‘why has it been so long?’. Then it came to me: I haven’t finished a project in a whole month! ‘Could it be?’ I asked myself and the sad answer that came back was yes, I have become the Unfinisher. It’s like being a superhero with the opposite of super powers, they are un-super powers to not finish anything I start! It’s so hard working at a yarn store, surrounded by beautiful colorways, exciting new patterns, and inspiring fibers.
Not that I’m complaining, I love the enthusiasm and creativity of starting a new project. Choosing yarn is a particularly indulgent experience for me. I don’t usually go with a budget in mind (a fatal move, let me tell you!) but I usually know approximately what kind of fiber I would like to work with (this usually has a ballpark cost associated with it in my mind). I love winding the the beautiful yarn i have chosen (either by swift or by hand depending on the fiber) and envisioning my great new creation. ‘This is going to be the very best and most unique _____ ever’ I tell myself. For a few days whenever someone asks me how I am I say ‘I’m working on a really great new project….’ then i follow up with the details even if the person asking isn’t a knitter and has no idea what I’m talking about, just because I’m so pumped about it!
Unfortunately there are usually some snags along the way. Perhaps the stitch is a little more complicated than imagined or worse, too simple and boring. These can be the death of a project for me. If something is too dull I will often put it down for a while and start something more interesting. In the past I have usually gone back to the boring project and finished it but lately this seems to be more challenging! I have several projects on the go (all of which I like) so I really just need to pick one and get it done! I’ve been told by several fellow knitters that this Unifinisher phenomenon is not unique to me. Many knitters find the lure of a finished project weaker than the desire to start something new and exciting. No more I say! Time to start checking things off my list!
This first project is a sweater I started with the intention of giving it to my Dad for Fathers Day. Unfortunately disaster struck after I had finished the sleeves: I had run out of yarn. I had neglected to take into account the fact that my Dad is a particularly long person. He is quite thin and quite tall so I had to make some rather serious alterations to the pattern. I essentially had to make the sweater in a size small for the width and a size extra large for the length. When calculating out how many balls of yarn I would need I forgot to figure on the extended length. Not only did I run out of the pivitol brown that would bring the whole cardigan together but my yarn store ran out of it too! There was none to be had all around town so we had to order it in. I think it’s going to make a lovely Christmas present. Of course I cannot be found at fault for not finishing this particular item (yet) as I am awaiting a shipment of yarn.
When i found out that my cardigan would not be finished in time I felt that in one and a half weeks I could knit him a sweater vest. I’m not really sure what I was thinking on that one. Anyone who can work full time and finish an entire sweater vest in a week and a half is amazing. Needless to say he got the sweater vest on the needles still and I am powering through to ge that finished ASAP. I just hate it when I can’t get a project done on time! It feels so anti-climactic when you give them the unfinished gift and it’s really not the best feeling when they do get it a week later. Ah well, live and learn! Here is my lovely sweater vest that I hope to have finished shortly. It really is a great project. I chose Blue Sky Alpaca’s Skinny dyed Cotton for this vest so that it could be worn during the hot summer months. I just hope I get it done in time for him to wear it in the summer!
Another project that is really dragging out is my Earth to Ocean blanket. I realize that blankets are a pick up and put down project and are not meant to be finished in a day, but it has been about 5 months since I started this baby and I am still working on the 2nd or 3rd to last stripe (I can’t decide whether or not to get a couple more skeins and make it longer or to just leave it as it is). The nice thing about this project is that it’s really almost done and won’t take too much longer to bring over the finish line.
Yet another project I am working on is a pair of Little Block Socks from Handmaiden. They are super cute and they have a little cashmere in them to make them a little extra luxurious. I have only made it to the cuff on the first sock so they have a ways to go. I have a little road trip coming up so perhaps that will be my road trip goal, a finished pair of socks (assuming the sweater vest is done first, of course).
These are the four projects that are weighing most heavily on my mind. I also have 2 cotton baby blankets that were intended for little ones that have long since outgrown their need for such things that need borders, another pair of socks, some felted pot holders, a pair of angora baby booties, a scarf or 2, and countless balls of yarn that need to be knit into something, I’m just not sure what yet. So much to knit and so little time…..ain’t it the truth!?
My first Pattern: Short Button Scarves
I have been enamored over the past couple of months with the short button scarf. As soon as I got enthusiastic about them it seemed like everyone I know wanted one! I had to churn those babies out fast. That being said I came up with a couple of really nice patterns and decided to put them up for sale.
The great thing about these little wonders is that they usually only take one skein (depending on the size of the skein obviously). This may not seem at first like a fantastic attribute but here are 3 reasons this is great:
1. You probably have a skein of yarn hanging around that you can’t think of anything to do with but you still really like it.
2. There are often sales at your LYS on the last ball of a given yarn or color.
3. This is a great opportunity to treat yourself to a gourmet ball of yarn since you only need one skein.
It seems to me like this is a prime opportunity to throw in a little cashmere or silk perhaps. I made some with a lovely cashmere wool blend, cashmere and alpaca, alpaca and silk, the list is endless! Once I got going on them I came up with some neat patterns with some cables and mock cables.
I felt that the chunky yarn I used for the 2 by 2 scarf (pictured in blue up above) did a nice job of showing off my stitches so a big chunky cable seemed fitting! This scarf works with one button or 2, it’s up to you! If button holes are a little scary (or if you like to multiply the number of ways you can wear a scarf) The Mock Cable scarf works because you don’t need to make any button holes and you can wear the scarf however you want.
These are both made with wool or alpaca blends but I think a nice Springy alteration would be to make them in cotton. For those cool nights after warm days when you need just a little something.
To buy my charming 2 by 2 Cabled Button scarf for $5 (CAD) just click here.
To buy my charming Mock Cable Button scarf for $5 (CAD) just click here.
Thanks for being my gorgeous model Robin!
My Favorite Scarf
Sometimes your favorite knitted item is not the most interesting or complicated piece you have ever knit. I have made blankets and gloves and socks and complicated cable or lace patterns etc. but my favorite thing I have ever knit is my scarf. I bought the yarn for this scarf when I was on vacation in New York with my husband (then boyfriend) at Purl Soho. We had so much fun that day wandering around cafe’s and galleries. I picked some kinda seventies colors in the lovely Blue Sky Alpaca Sport Weight.
I knit this scarf when I got home knitting every row in a super-simple garter stitch. A plain-jane stripey scarf. Then I started wearing that scarf everywhere. I wore it to school, on vacation, with every outfit I own, color coordination be damned! I wore it on a trip to Boston (here I am checking out Harvard).
It was a long scarf to begin with but as I wore it the knit stitches began to stretch out and it got longer and longer. I even closed the car door on it one time and it dragged down the streets of Vancouver! No matter, I still love my favorite scarf. It goes to show you that something hand-made doesn’t have to be difficult or particularly large-scale to be one of a kind and well loved.
Knitography
In writing my own blog and in reading other blogs about knitting and crafting I always appreciate a really good picture of a project. I like to know exactly what it will look like up close, far away, on a person, on a hanger, the list is endless. I want to be able to see as much as I can before I committ to making something. Showing off your work, however is only one aspect of photographing your projects.
I also like to photograph my projects in order to keep organized and to make the gift giving process more complete. I think that if you are going to put so much effort into anything you knit you should always try to make it easier for you to repeat your success. I can’t remember the last time I knit something and I didn’t have some sort of alteration or helpful hint that I wish I’d had before I started. I like to leave myself little notes like: ‘perhaps this would be better knit in the round’, ’use longer double points, not the little short sock ones’, or ‘add 4 extra stitches’. This way, if I repeat the pattern or lend it to a friend they or I can benefit from my experience. This is where the photograph comes in: always take a picture of the finished product to keep with your pattern. This will help you remember how the project turned out and how you will alter it next time, especially if the finished product has been given away. It’s a great way to keep everything straight and organized.
Another great use for knitography is taking pictures of your own creations. If you are making your own patterns or greatly altering the ones you have you may want to type them out and keep a picture with them. This way you won’t forget your alterations or the pattern you have created.
Yet another great use of a knit-pic is to be used as a tag. This will also work for your quilts or other crafty gifts although you might want to use a smaller picture since you won’t need to attach any yarn or buttons. You can attach your 4×6 pic to a piece of cardstock that is 4.5×6.5 and on the back you can print the care instructions, materials (is it wool, cotton, alpaca, etc). This is also a good place to attach your little extra yarn (for possible *gasp* repairs) or buttons.
This way the recipient of the gift knows exactly how to care for the gift and which garment the instructions are for. It’s a really nice finishing touch if I do say so myself!
