How do I work this thing?

As I read other people's blogs, I am realizing that they are much more technologically talented than I. I finally figured out how to link in text. For example, if I wanted to tell you to go here for free knitting patterns, I can! But I still don't get how to put a button in my side bar, or in the middle of my post like some of my fellow bloggers do. Hmmmm....Its curious...and frustrating all at the same time! So thing #1 that I don't know how to work.


Thing #2 is a very exciting challenge to me. My birthday is September 17th, but I have gotten one of my bday presents already. My sister and her boyfriend came out to visit me a couple of weeks ago, and brought my present from my parents. This is not neccessarily something that I have begged and pleaded for, but definitely something that I have looked into getting, and now that I have it, I am so pumped to learn how to use it!! So what is it you ask? Its a brand new.....

SEWING MACHINE!!!I am super excited to learn how to use this! I have scanned through my owner's manual, and have not a clue! Today, however, upon advice from several of my knitting circle girls, and my mother, the veteran sewer, I bought some plain white cotton muslin to practice all the stitches on. I also got some other really cool fabric to make a lining for a handbag that may or may not be for Christmas, but as it might just be a present for some one, I will not post a picture of it until the recipient has received it. It's way too obvious even for a teaser photo...sorry!

I am super excited for this weekend, not because I have huge Labor Day plans, but because I will have a full extra day for the weekend to finish some much neglected WIPs and to start on a new, beautiful project. I am going to be joining a KAL with some fellow knitters from the Stitch n Bitch Forum

We are going to be starting this project as the KAL, and I am really excited and anticipating getting started. This will be my first foray into Fair Isle knitting, and I am sure that it will be fine, but I have some fears that the whole thing will just be messy! I am using Knit Picks Merino Style, and am anxiously awaiting its arrival...hoping that it will get here before Monday so I can spend the whole day working on them!!

Happy Labor Day everyone...time to get to those WIPs so I can move on to my pretty mittens!!

Beading

While I was online today, I read a fellow knitter's blog today, and she had linked to this really cool bracelet/row counter. It is really cool, and super practical. The link is


http://westenddesignknits.blogspot.com/2006/08/row-counter-tutorial.html
(thanks qutecowgirl!)


I have dabbled a little in bead work, and had a stash of left overs from making bracelets for my mom and sister one year for xmas. I pulled out the beading materials and here is what I came up with... I might have made it a little small, but it will definitely work in some capacity. I was looking at it and thought, the toggle ring at the end would probably fit around most of my needles (not the 11s or 13s of course, but anything under). So I was thinking that maybe I would use it as a row counter at the end of my needles, and another thought dawned on me! I have seen so many pretty stitch markers that have jewels and beads on them and thought that with some of the materials I have laying around, I could make a few for myself. So here they are!!
I had a bunch of toggle clasps left over that I used for the actual stitch marker. Each marker took me probably only 10 minutes to make, and am excited to start using them. This could be a bit of a problem, I could totally see myself making a bunch of stitch markers for every project that I have, to match the yarn, and all!

Deadlines....

So, I am leaving for my Homecoming weekend, the one I was hoping to wear "Marlo" to. I thought that if I gave myself a deadline, I would knit faster, and get it completed. I kind of feel like my eyes were too big for my timeline. Here is my progress in the last week...(the pic is a little funny looking because I took it on my cell phone, my digital camera battery decided to die!)I have finished up to the start of the third cable repeat. I had to rip out 8 rows when somehow, I managed to either drop a stitch or YO when I was knitting plain stockinette. I tried everything to figure out how to fix it, thinking that if it didn't look super great, that's OK since this is the back. I was having no luck and didn't want to unknit two rows of cable, so, after walking away from it for a few minutes to gather my courage, I ripped. And then painstakingly picked up my live stitches, trying so hard not to drop any more stitches. It was successful (thank goodness!!) and I managed to knit back to where the problem occurred. I couldn't look at this project anymore for the rest of the night, so I didn't get much accomplished. My deadline was to finish and block tonight so that I could pack the sweater, but no such luck. So, though I will not be wearing it...I will be at least bringing it with me to work on. Maybe next week I will finish!

Since I have come to grips with the fact that my sweater will not be finished, I decided to do another little project tonight while I was doing laundry. I will be meeting up with a friend I haven't seen in a couple of years, and she is pregnant! So, I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring her a handknit gift.

These are the "One Hour Baby Booties" from the Stitch n Bitch Nation book. The designer and pattern are true to its name, and only took me about 1.5 hours to start and complete...blocking and all. I actually made one this morning per the instructions, and it turned out really small. Since I don't have kids, I don't really have the concept of really how big or small a baby's feet are, so I decided to make them bigger. My friend is due in October, so I figured that the baby could get a lot of winter use out of these if they were a little bigger. I think they are super cute. I did modify the pattern per some advice on the SnB forum, and knit a couple extra rows instead of making a strap and making them in to Mary Jane type booties.

A great, exciting piece of news in my knitting world as well...I have learned to knit 2 socks at the same time on 2 circular needles! It is super easy, and I really can't see myself knitting socks any other way in the future. I have one sock stalled on the dpn's right now, and plan on taking it with me to hopefully finish while I am sitting in lectures this weekend. I have located the LYS and will definitely be paying them a visit while I am in town. I didn't knit while I was in grad school, which is probably a really good thing, so I didn't have any clue about LYS's and the like. Come to find out, I lived just down the road from them the whole time!!! Yet another good thing about not knitting in grad school...my semester stipend would have been blown in the first week!!

Well, I better get packing and also getting myself ready for work tomorrow. I am leaving straight from work, so that means that I have to have everything ready by 8am tomorrow morning!! Blech!! Hopefully I will have some FO's to show off when I get home!

Speed Knitting

So I came across the Sexy Knitters Club (see link at the side) and found that they are a group that does KALs! I find that very exciting and a lot of fun that there are so many people out there working on the same project at the same time. I really enjoyed looking at past projects and pics of FOs. My question is this...How do they/you knit projects so quickly?!?! I see pitures of projects that were cast on and finished in about a week. My most recent project attempt is "Marlo" from Black Purl knits. I cast on about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks ago and am only 3.5 " into the first 7" of ribbing with the most complicated part, the cables at the edges of the sleeves to go. The pattern in not written to be done on circular needles, but I am knitting the body to the arm holes as such, hoping to save time. Apparently not! I wrote about this in my last post, and am giving myself a deadline! Hopefully, I will meet the deadline and be able to wear it to the event I am planning on wearing it to.

I try to knit at least 2 hours per day, but as we all know, this doesn't always happen. I am just in a frustrated mood, because, again, as I stated in my last post, I have a hard time finishing projects. A member of my knitting circle told me that I was a process knitter, not a project knitter, but I want to be a project knitter and have something to show for my time and energy! Humpf!! Well, off I go...hoping to gain at least an inch or two on my sweater.

Knitting ADD

I have spoken to other people through forums on knitting and am finding that summer is definitely a time for "Knitting ADD." I am finding that this occurs for me not only in the summer, but throughout all seasons. I have completely disregarded patterns only to cast on and start something new, and becoming completely commited to them, until.....something new comes along. I have about 5 knitting WIPs and 1 crochet WIP. I give my crochet abandonment the excuse that because it is an afghan, and it is summer, it is ok to ignore. But what about my socks? What about the sleeveless sweater, and now my new project, that I will not give details about because it is for a family member. Plus a dishcloth, a shawl, and a Prayer Shawl for my Prayer Shawl Ministry group.

So, I have decided to give myself deadlines. I have 2 weeks to finish the sleeveless sweater, because I want to wear it to some grad school homecoming festivities. I am giving the new project 3 weeks to completion...as the family member and I will be seeing each other. My sock...I feel that has no hope...but that's ok. I still have the match to make, so my deadline for the socks will be set once the first two are met.

Speaking of socks...I have learned to knit them on dnps. I would like to learn 2 circs or Magic loop technique. Perhaps I will knit the mate to my sock in progress on 2 circs. These socks are for me, so if the gauge is different, of I make mistakes, that is ok. I have 3 pairs of socks to make for gifts, and think that making them on 2 circs, 2 socks together might make it go faster. Hmmm...yet another challenge to my deadline. I will be posting pics of projcets and the progress on my deadlines.

Oh here we go...focus now!!!

Sari Silk Handbag - My First Design/Pattern!

Here is my my Sari Silk Handbag. I found this silk at my LYS and wanted to buy all 6 skeins. I couldn't decide which I liked best, so I bought 3 and decided that the best way to showcase this beautiful yarn was to make a handbag for everyone to see!! I borrowed some general concepts of this pattern from other handbag patterns I have seen. You can modify the pattern to make the bag smaller or larger, but please do not take credit for it. Thanks!




Sari Silk Handbag

Materials: I am not sure of the yardage I used, but you could probably make this from one 50g skein of yarn.
16" circular needles, US 8
US 13 needles
Fabric for lining
"Stitch Witchery" Fabric bonder
Set of purse handles (I bought both black wooden and bamboo--I preferred the black wooden)

Gauge: Doesn't matter as the silk changes gauge throughout the skein, and you can modify the needle size to make the fabric looser or tighter

Cast on 35 stitches with size 8 needle.
K all rows for approx. 30 rows, or until piece is as large as you want the bottom to be

Do not bind off last row. Turn corner and begin to pu stitches. PU 1 stitch every other row, and 1 stitch every stitch on the cast on edge. PM at each corner to keep track of front, back, and sides of purse.

Join. K all rounds until the purse reaches desired length.

Begin next round by BO first 5 st on one of the long sides, knit middle 25 stitches onto size 13 needles, place on a holder. Continue to BO last 5 st of long side. BO all short side st and first 5 st of second long side. K middle 25 st onto size 13 needles. BO last 5 st. Weave in end. Place second set of middle st onto holder.

You can continue by knitting the handle wraps, or by sewing the lining. I chose to sew in the lining before finishing the handle wraps and sewing the handles in.

Lining:

Lay knit handbag flat onto a piece of paper, trace around the outline of the purse. Cut out tracing. Place cut out on fabric and trace around it, this will be your guide lines for sewing the seams. When you cut out the fabric, leave 1/2" for seaming and hemming purposes. You can trim it down later.

I used a satiny fabric for my lining, and it frays pretty easily. So I used Stitch Witchery fabric bonding tape prior to sewing my seams to give the fabric some sturdiness. I also used the bonding tape only for my hem, as I was going to be stitching it by hand into my hand bag. I used some contrasting fabric for my pocket, and as I do not have a sewing machine, simply cheated and used the stitch witchery to bond the pocket to the lining. It's pretty sturdy!

Sew your lining into your hand bag.

Handles:
Knit on US 13 needles. Knit off the stitch holder, and continue in garter st for approx 10 rows, or until the flap is long enough to sew around the handle. BO. Fold the flap down over the flat part of the handle, and sew in place. Repeat on other side.

Finishing:

As I used 3 different skeins, and alternated every few rows, I just pulled my ends through to the inside of the purse, and sewed my lining in without weaving the ends. If you can't do that, weave in the ends and enjoy your beautiful new hand bag.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this pattern. I didn't write things down as I went, and this is the first pattern that I have actually translated from my head to paper (or blog). I appreciate any constructive criticism.

Ball up and Dye!!

After reading several posts and forums on hand dying your own yarn, I decided to give it a shot. I attempted to dye "self striping" yarn with coffee, a tip I read online as well. Lets just say, the results were not pretty. I was skeptical to try it again, and have thought about using several different methods. Kool-Aid, food coloring, and Rit fabric dye. I have used Rit fabric dye to dye a shirt that I accidentally ruined with bleach. It works wonderfully, and is relatively easy. I have "dyed" some fabric with Kool-Aid in the past as well, but obviously not on purpose! So here are my supplies for my weekend adventure in yarn dying:


I bougt some Paton's 100% wool to try my hand at Kool-Aid and food coloring, but did not get to it this weekend. Maybe next weekend. In a small apartment, limited space limits all the projects I want to do at one time! I decided to dye some Paton's Grace using the Rit dye. My goal was to make truly self striping yarn with it. After wrapping 3 skeins of yarn around my dining room chairs, I went to it.

Here is the result after dying and rinsing. I put 1/3 of the length of the skeins in the dye bath for about 20 minutes. The package directions were definitely a guideline. It recommended using 2 pkg of dye in 3 gallons of water to ensure color saturation. I used 2 pkg of dye in 2 gallons of water. It also recommended leaving the fabric/yarn in the dye bath for 30 minutes. After 20, I was happy with the darkness and saturation of the color. After the initial 20 minutes, I took the second 1/3 and dipped it in the dye bath about 4 times to gain a lighter purple color. The last 1/3 I left white for contrast. Here is the finished product. I hanked one and balled 2 to see the coloring.

I plan on making a pair of nice cotton socks. I am a little concerned about the possibility of color bleeding when the fabric gets washed. I will post the finished project once these socks are finished.

Speaking of socks....I am hooked! I have knit one and only one sock in my entire knitting experience. It is understanding how socks can become an addiction. The first time I knit the heel flap, I was excited. The first heel turn, I stood up and did a little feel good dance. The gusset, not my favorite, but one thing I will put up with to get to the toe decreases and grafting. Grafting! With all the cautionary instructions on how difficult grafting can be, I was expecting this to be my Everest of sock making. Well, needless to say, it went smoothly and beautifully. Not so scary after all! Here is the finished sock, on a homemade hanger sock blocker no less...Paton's 100% wool on size 6 needles. Its mate is still balled up in the stash...someday to be reunited!!

This is my latest project (one of many!!). A sock, knitted in Austermann sock yarn, I believe. I think I threw away the label in my cleaning frenzy today. I decided to try a pattern, but nothing too complicated, so I am doing the leg and instep in seed stitch after about 1 1/2 inches of 2x2 ribbing. I am excited to see the finished project and will try my hardest to not to fall victim the "second sock syndrome." I don't consider the lack of a mate on my first sock to be an attack of SSS, but rather a "practice" sock.

Now, off to work on my sock, which I will dub "Peachy Keen" !!