Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year!

While on Christmas vacation I finished a few projects.  I made 4 afghan squares, but I have yet to photograph them.  Here are the projects that I was able to take a picture of.

I finally learned how to do fair isle knitting.  It was one of my goals in 2013.  I sat in on 2 knitting classes so that I could get help with it.  I learned a new cast on technique that is used when knitting a ball in the round, and I learned the right way to hold my yarn when fair isle knitting.  I'm pretty proud of myself and this ornament.  Here is the free pattern for it.

I was able to finish this snake scarf on Christmas Eve.  Talk about cutting it close.  Here is the very easy and free pattern for it.  My youngest son loved it.

I also made another Christmas bath puff, and I finished it a few hours before giving it to someone.  Here is the free pattern for it.

Here is a close up of one of the afghan squares that I made last week.  It is tunisian crochet (simple stitch).

Now for New Year's resolutions:

For 2013 my goal was to make 500 items.  I made 567!

For 2014 my goal is to use up 50 skeins of yarn.  


For the last 3 years I have kept track of how many projects I have made.  Now it is time to work on stashbusting.  I have more than enough yarn to last me a few years, so now I need to use it.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Have a Merry Christmas!

I just finished the last of my handmade Christmas presents last night.  I do have one more gift to make, but it doesn't have to be finished by Christmas.  Here are the newest items that I have made.

"flower" scarf - yarn link
one skein scarves made using Loops & Threads charisma yarn
Wreath pins - my own pattern
Felted soap - I made this during a class this month
V-Stitch bag - my pattern
Infinity Cowl

Man Hats

After making several of these hats for charity (first 2 photos) I wanted to make more for Christmas presents.  Here is the free pattern for these hats.  It is a very easy pattern which can be made in a day.  I used Loops and Threads Charisma yarn, a size 10 small circular needles, and 4 size 10 dpns.  The Charisma yarn comes in many different solid and self striping colorways, and it very soft.  I recommend knitting 6 inches instead of the 7 that the pattern calls for in the beginning.  I have made both lengths, and the 6 seems to be a better fit.  My 6 year old, my husband, and I have all tried on the same hat, and it fit all of us just fine.  I made the first hat in July and finished the last hat yesterday.  

This is Lumino yarn that I bought from my local yarn store.  It reflects light, which is perfect for at night.  You can see the reflection in the bottom photo.


Friday, December 6, 2013

So many projects before Christmas!


I started knitting this scarf in early October as part of a private knitting lesson that I was teaching.  I just finished it last night.  It doesn't take 2 months to make, I was just trying to wait for my student to be at a point where we could finish ours together.  I used 2 skeins of Red Heart Boutique Treasure yarn in the Tapestry colorway.  I just picked up the two yarns at different places in their coloring so that the stripes stood out.  I really like this pattern (The Unicorn Pegasus Rainbow Scarf by Huan-Hua Chye), and I want to make more of them in different colorways.
This Christmas colored bath puff took a little over a skein of Creme de la Creme cotton yarn to make, but it was a very easy pattern.  I want to try to make 2 to 3 more before Christmas to give as presents.
I designed and crochet this tree bobble pillow for display at my job at my local yarn shop.  They have a knitted bobble tree pillow there, and so I wanted to show my students that you could also make the same pillow with crochet.  The person who had made the knitted one found this one incredibly easy.  She said that knitting bobbles was not an easy thing to do.  I don't know, because I've only crochet them.  I also published this pattern on ravelry.  The right hand pillow is the published version.  The left hand one was my first attempt before I made changes to the pattern.
I saw a video by Mickey of The Crochet Crowd on you tube where he was showing how to crochet an infinity cowl using some scrappy yarn.  I modified his directions only slightly to make my own.  He chained 80 and I chained 120.  I used an H hook and Red Heart Boutique Treasure yarn (Mosaic).  I crochet until the skein ran out.
I recently ordered a bunch of Tunisian crochet hooks.  Michaels only carried H hooks, and I needed an I and a J.  I had heard that if you went up 2 to 3 hook sizes that that would help prevent curling.  I used a J for this honeycomb dishcloth, and there was no curling what so ever (3 hook sizes up from the recommended size).  Here is one of the many you tube videos on how to make a tunisian honeycomb stitch.
I made two of these candy cane ornaments recently, but I gave one away before photographing it.  It is a very very easy pattern to make.
I finished another V stitch bag last month.  I love the peppermint colors in it.  The flower is from a different bag pattern.  I also published this bag pattern on ravelry recently.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup - Fall 2013

Here are the things that I made for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup (ravelry challenge group) for the Fall 2013 three month term (September - November).  Each one says what the project was and what class I submitted it into.

September
1. Scarf - Leaky Cauldron
2. Mary Poppins Scarf - Madame Malkin's
3. Ruffled Scarf - Ollivander's
4. Mohair doll hat - Quidditch - Get to know your Nimbus
5. Mohair doll witch hat and caplet - Knockturn Alley
6. Man Hat #7 - Quidditch - Beater
7. Man Hat #8 - Quidditch - Beater
8. Man Hat #9 - Quidditch - Beater
9. Man Hat #10 - Quidditch - Beater
10. Man Hat #11 - Quidditch - Beater
11. Ice cream cozy - Quidditch - Beater
12. Ice cream cozy - Quidditch - Beater
13. Tunisian crochet dishcloth - Quidditch - Beater
14. Crochet samplers and doll bag - Potage's Cauldron Shop
15. Beaded necklace - Apothecary
16. Catnip penguin - Magical Menagerie
17. One eared bunny - Flourish & Blotts
18. Beginning of a shawl - Order of the Phoenix Mission
19. Apple hexiflats - OWL
20. Mary Poppins hexiflats - OWL

October
1.  Man Hat #13 - Quidditch - Beater
2.  Man Hat #14 - Quidditch - Beater
3.  Man Hat #12 - Quidditch - Beater
4. Green dishcloth - Quidditch - Beater
5. Bobble Tree dishcloth - Quidditch - Beater
6. Granny Square - Potions
7. Yellow dyed yarn - Transfiguration
8. Candy Corn - Flying
9. Kerchief - Herbology
10. Prayer shawl - Dada
11. Flower - History of Magic
12. Bag - Detention
13. Cream dishcloth - Quidditch - Beater

November
1. Bobble tree pillow - Forbidden Forest
2. Tunisian crochet honeycomb dishcloth - Fluffy
3. Phone cozy - Enchanted Chess Board
4. Raindrop earrings - Troll's Chamber
5. Man Hat #15 - Quidditch - Beater
6. Man Hat #16 - Mirror of Erised
7. Man Hat #17 - Philosopher's Stone
8. Infinity Cowl - Devil's Snare Chamber
9. Hexiflats - My OWL at 100%
10. Peppermint bag - Forbidden Forest

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Phone cozy and wreath ornaments 3 ways

I used a size J hook and Cascade Pacific Chunky Multi yarn to make this phone cozy.
- ch 11
- sc across, sc in last st 3 times, flip to the other side of the chain and sc across, sc in the last st twice.  Now just sc in every stitch until it is the length that you want. 

Here are 3 wreath ornaments that I made the other day during my crochet class.  They use 3 different patterns.  The first one is a pattern that I made up.  I used Plymouth Encore worsted weight yarn and sizes F and G hooks for them.  The first 2 have a plastic ring in the center, and the 3rd one uses a green chenille stem for the center.

Here is my pattern for the first one:
Using a F hook and worsted weight yarn and a plastic ring

  • sc around the ring, sl st in the 1st sc
  • ch 3, dc in the same st as the sl st, 2 dc in each st around, join with a sl st in the first dc.
  • ch 1, sc 4 times in every st, join with a sl st into the first sc. (for less of a ruffle sc into each st 2 or 3 times)
  • ch 30 and join with a sl st to the base of the chain.
  • cut and weave in the ends.
  • Then add a bow and a bell to the bottom of it.
This pattern and its photos are copyrighted by Kristy Medina (textiles4you.com) and may only be used for private individual or charity use. No commercial sales of this pattern or photos are permitted. ©2013


Here is the free pattern for the 3rd wreath ornament.  The 2nd wreath ornament's pattern came from Leisure Arts #4241, Ornaments to Crochet 3 Ways.  The first one is also published on ravelry.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Earrings, Stitch Markers, and Dishcloth

Yesterday I crochet a smaller pair of water drop earrings (my first pair are much larger).  I used a size 2 hook and crochet thread.  Then I crochet a pair of snowflake earrings to wear to my crochet class.  I did not starch them, because I did not want something rough scratching my neck.  Two nights ago I made 5 owl and 5 fairy stitch markers.  I found some interesting solid rings that would be good when using my larger needles, and then I found some thick jump rings that are also a nice size.  I added beads to the fairy ones.  I'm looking forward to using them.
I made another one of these dishcloths while watching a movie last month.  I really do like this pattern.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

My first finished shawl

After trying to make 3 different shawls this year, my 4th one was the success.  I was a church earlier this month when I was pulled over to a bench full of yarn and simple knit and crochet shawl patterns.  I agreed to take some yarn home and make a prayer shawl for my church.  I picked a very simple knit pattern from their pattern selection.  It is a lot narrower than I thought a shawl should be.  It looks more like a scarf to me.  I think that next time I will double or triple the cast on amount.  This used up 1 skein of Caron's Simply Soft yarn.  I used size 15 knitting needles for it.  Here is the super simple 5 row repeat pattern.  Why yes, that is a weird mess up right in the center of it.  I'm not really sure what happened there.