Cop out

I've been spinning almost constantly lately. (Except for short intervals of sock knitting in the car)

I just can't help it... the BLF roving from Squoosh is just delicious!

And it's going so quick.

From this:



Plus this:



To this:



Then a quick chain ply plus a quick wash and I have this:





You can really see how long the colour repeats are here:



This skein is actually about two cops full.

It comes out to 2.5 oz, 232 yards, and 22 wpi after washing (it was 26 before)

It is so pretty and so soft, I'm really happy with how it's turning out, although It's a bit thinner than I was hoping for (I really wanted sock weight, but this is several wpi thinner than I'm used to knitting with) so I'm not sure what I'm going to make with it.

I still have a little under half the roving to work through, but it's coming along swimmingly.

Some finished spinning samples and delicious squoosh

Bill just got a new camera and has been playing with it a lot recently, this is a picture he took of my Golding tsunami in action.

I've been spinning a lot lately, mostly samples, here's what I got:

a three ply from the same crappy roving I was using in the beginning, this is what was on my old spindle when I got the new Golding, I wanted to practice Navajo/chain playing so I stopped where I was, wound if off and went to town. I really like the finished yarn. (Well, as much as I can, considering the crappy roving it was made from) I over spun while plying and then had to wash and set the twist. I think it may be a little to over spun, but it's still quite nice. And I finally found a good use for my old heavy spindle; its extra weight was perfect for keeping the kinks out of the singles during all the maneuvering required for the plying.



this little gem is a small sample I spun up of Cayenne's fur.
It's sooo soft.
I had been trying on and off to spin her fur for a while now, but I had no way to card or process it, and nothing but a big heavy spindle to use, so the results were far from satisfactory. While out last week I finally picked up some dog brushes (how pithy!) to try carding the fur before spinning, and then using the new lighter spindle. The results were much more satisfactory, but if I want to do more, I will need a lit more practice, the fiber is very light and wispy and liked to drift apart and float away if you look at it wrong. I was thinking maybe blending it with some merino may help keep things together without sacrificing too much softness. Spun on the Golding 2" .8oz tsunami, then chain plied on my old heavy spindle.


And now for the yummiest part:

my better roving finally arrived!

This is BFL roving in the "thicket" colorway from Squoosh it is sooo dreamy!


Look at that! It's like spinning a cloud! I can't keep from cuddling it whenever I pick up my spindle, the colours are amazing, and the BFL drafts like buttah! I should have gotten good roving a long time ago, and Squoosh's colours are so pretty, I can't keep my self away! It's fascinating to sit there and look a the roving, pre draft it and watch the colours meld and then to spin it all up and watch as they transform into shiny happy beautifulness as I wind it on the cop. The last three days at work all I could think about was coming home and spinning. I think I'm addicted!

I got another roving from Squoosh (I just love that name!) too, it's a merino called "fun" and it does look fun! I can't wait to spin that up too.

My new spindle arrived!

On Friday afternoon I ordered my new Golding drop spindle. And it arrived today! I was so excited I just had to play with it. I felt like I was throwing purls before swine by using the crappy roving I had on had but I just had to play. (I ordered some spiffy hand dyed but it hasn't arrived yet)

Anyways, I have to say I LOVE THIS SPINDLE! It spins for ever and so smoothly! It is so light, I was instantly getting smoother finer yarn that I could ever hope of getting on my old spindle, I can't wait until the good roving arrives.

Stats:
Golding spindle
Micro 2" model, .8 oz.
Purpleheart whorl "tsunami" design.

I know I'm just a newbie, but if you are looking for a new spindle, I cannot recommend Golding enough. It's like a dream to work with, and so pretty!



a comparison with my old spindle. In a post I made to LJ, when I mentioned I wanted this spindle, tashabear said it was one hell of an upgrade. I didn't realize how true that was! I look at my old spindle now, and can't believe I managed to make halfway decent yarn with it.



the whorl



and a crappy picture of just how fine I could spin.
After a little more practice I was getting even finer, and I'm sure it improve even more with the better roving.

Spinning!

A couple of years ago I bought a beginners drop spindle at Rhinebeck. I spun up a really bad and lumpy bulky skein on it then promptly put it aside for something else. Then a little later I picked it back up and started spinning Fur from our American Eskimo Cayenne. It was difficult since I had no way to properly prepare it, and the staple length was short and the spindle was heavy, so I didn't do it too often and for very long.

Then the other day while I as cleaning out my stash I found a bag of unlabeled bats that I had bought long ago on e-bay, and decided to pull out the spindle again.

The wool wasn't very well prepared, there were a lot of little matted lumps in it, tons of vegetable matter, and it was a little sticky from all the leftover lanolin. But it was all I had and I wanted to spin! I decided that if I was really going to take up spinning seriously I wanted lace and sock weight. So that's what I aimed for.

Here it is on the spindle before I took it off to ply:


And after plying:



With penny:


stats: about 102 yards, 17-20 wpi, unknown breed of wool.

It's not perfect by a long shot, there are a lot of too thick and under spun bits from the beginning but towards the end I was getting really happy with my consistency, but it kept breaking and pulling apart if I got as thin as I wanted. From my research I guess that was because my spindle was just too heavy. So I think I'm going to get a new spindle - I was looking at these specifically the Tsunami in purpleheart.

When we go into town today, I'm also planning on going to the library to take out some books on spinning. Ohh I'm so excited!

A new skirt!

I hate clothes shopping. It's annoying.

I'm a big girl, and it's always difficult to find clothing that 1) fits me and 2) looks nice.
One of my favorite types of clothing during summer time is skirts. They are easy to take on and off; they cover my flabby pale legs, and are amazingly cool, even on the hottest days. (Way cooler and more comfortable than shorts even, because skirts allow air flow)

I especially like the bohemian tiered skirt look, because they are looser, look better on my figure and allow more freedom of movement and air flow.

But I've had a very difficult time finding many that are both the appropriate colour palate for summertime (I prefer lighter colours during the summer, but not white, I am too much of a klutz to wear white) and that match shirts that I already own (I have more than enough tank tops and t-shirts, thankyouverymuch) AND that will actually fit over my rather large bottom.

My solution?

Make my own!



I've scrounge the internet and library and bookstores for good skirt patterns, and I found a couple of resources that discuss my favored skirt design. And a couple of weeks ago I finally got up the nerve to try it out.

So I went to Jo-Ann's Fabrics and got a pretty fabric, and some elastic, brought it home, cut it out and make a skit!

It was way easier than I expected, and I'm incredibly happy with the results. AND with a coupon, (and not counting labor, since it gave me something to do, and was fun) it came out to WAY less than I've paid for similar skits. YAY!

The skirt isn't perfect, but I'm happy, and already have the fabric to make another one!



if you're interested, here's the tutorial for how I made it

Fnished Flutterbyes

Yay!

Since the weather is getting nicer around here, I figured it was high time I got off my duff and finished the crochet butterfly top I started a while ago.



All I really needed to do was the sleeves and edging. And since I decided to just do plain Sc around the main body it was a snap. The sleeves on the other hand got ripped out several times before I was happy. See, I have flabby arms, and am very particular about my sleeves. But I eventually got it.



I am so incredibly happy with this top, I just want to wear it all the time, but it's still a bit chilly.
::pout::

original pattern by Proper Trappings and available here(ravelry link)

Bunnies, Bunnies, it must be BUNNIES!*

I've been up to a lot lately, nut for some reason not up to posting, but I've finally getting all my thoughts in order so prepare for a bunch of posts.

First up? BUNNIES!

*ahem*

I've knit a few more bunnies from this pattern I really like it and think the product is absolutely adorable.

One of my friends just had a baby and I think I'll send one to her.



The first one is from some random Lion Bouclé that was given to me from a lady at knit night. she didn't like it and wanted to get rid of it, and al I could think of was a bunny. I lost my pattern about half way through so I fudged it. and you can kind of tell, it's head is a little too small. Ah well.



The next one is a bunny I started a while ago but ran out of yarn just as I was starting it's second ear. I had a heck of a time finding the matching yarn for it, but I finally found some that was 'close enough' while I was wandering around Jo–Anns the other day.

I think the off colour ear give him a kind of charm, don't you think?


*bonus points of you can name where iI got the title from

change purse tutorial

as promised, here's the tutorial.pattern for the little change purse I made yesterday.
be warned there are a lot of pictures. (you can click on each picture to get a bigger view)
if you would like, you can also view the tutorial as a slide show from my flickr album


gather your materials
you will need:
2 4x6 pieces of fabric, a short zipper (length isn't too important, so don't worry if all you can get is a longer zipper), sewing machine and thread, scissors and an iron.


fold each of your pieces of fabric in half, with right sides together. Press.


With zipper closed, place the zipper in the fold of one of your fabric pieces. Center the fabric on the zipper, making sure the pull tab is out of the way.


Sew along the folded edge


Unfold fabric and refold wrong sides together, press. (be careful not to melt your zipper!)


Repeat on the other side of the zipper with your other piece of fabric.


press again.


Unzip the zipper so that the pull tab is "inside" the fabric.


Fold the zipper in half so that the teeth are on top and the fabric pieces are together.
Sew each end of the zipper several times along the edge of the fabric.


Trim away the excess zipper, being careful not to cut where you just sewed everything together.


Making sure that the zipper pull tab is in the center of the fabric. Unfold the very top and very bottom piece of fabric so that you now have two flaps of fabric (right sides together) above and below the zipper.


Sew along first one side, then the other side. Making sure the back stitch several times over the zipper to secure it.


Sew along the top edge (the piece that will be the outside of your purse, if you are unsure which end this is, it's the one where you can see the top of the zipper and the pull tab from.)

Then sew along the bottom edge, leaving about an inch gap unsewn in the middle. Trim your corners. And trim the ends of the zipper flush with the fabric. (not shown in the picture)


Pull everything right side out through the gap you left in the inside bottom edge.
Make sure to poke out your corners. And sew up the hole.


Push the lining fabric inside the change purse, making sure everything is neat and tidy, and admire your handiwork!

Some much happier purses

So after the disaster of a purse from my last post. I got serious. And went looking for a good purse pattern. Then I realized I actually HAD a good purse pattern already, but I kept forgetting about it.

I year or so ago a good friend of mine who doesn't quilt, won a quilt kit. In the kit was a pattern for a really cute purse as well as the supplies to make it. Since she didn't' quilt or sew and I did, she gave it to me.

Here is my practice purse from the pattern:




MUCH better! But the fabric is so not my style. So I dug up the leftovers from my denim tote bag, and made another:



I really like it, it makes my very happy.
Only one problem (if you can call it that) the back pocket is its only pocket. So I have no place to put my change.
Sooo..

DO DO DOOOT!



Change purse to the rescue!

It's my own super spiffy pattern. And once I get all the photos edited and write everything up all pretty, I'll post it for you.

an unhappy purse

I was feeling out of sorts today, so to cheer myself up I decided to make myself a new summer purse.

I should have know better, but it don't come out how I wanted.

since I'm unhappy with it, I will never use it. and my husband won't let me throw it away. so you guys get a chance at a free purse.



it measures roughly 8.5 x 5, has an extra long strap, and two internal pockets.
the sewing isn't the best but it's free, so if you want it let me know.

just leave me a comment here with your e-mail address. if I get more than one request I'll go ask a random number generator.

What I did today:

Finished knitting the heels on the striped socks:



Picked up the feather and fan shawl again, it's getting close to the end, I hope to get there soon, this has been sitting in my knitting bag for too long.



And made mocha brownies using my new mini bunt pan



Yummy.


Yesterday I sat down to cut the yellow fabric for the sashings on my quilt, and promptly messed it up. I was cutting the last strips, and somehow lost my mind and measured wrong. When I realized I was upset, but I thought I could still salvage, and I had measured too big, and could easily trim the pieces. And I could have too, if I had measured correctly the second time. But I didn't. I had originally purchased the fabric thinking I was just going to use it on the borders, so I didn't have much wiggle room when I decided to do sashing too. Next time I'm in town I'm going to need to buy more, and until then I can't go any further with the quilt, since the pieces I messed up were the ones that go in the middle of the quilt.

Ah well. Luckily I left myself plenty of time to get this finished before mother's day.

Coasting and smocking.

After I took the pictures of the blocks last night, I decided to wait until this weekend to cut the slashing. But I was in the sewing groove, so I took some of the scraps left over from the blocks and threw together these coasters. They are very spring-y, and make me very happy. We already have plenty of coasters around here, so I think I will give them to bill's parents for Easter.

Also, the other day I worked on this:



It's my first attempt at Smocking.

I found this really wonderful sitethat gives instructions on smocking, and then while we were in town on Wednesday I picked up a few books from the library.

There are a lot of really nifty applications for smocking; it's not just for baby's clothing (although I do find it appealing... I just need somebody near me to have babies so I can make stuff for them) smocked fabric usually has a lot of elasticity and stretch to it, and one book I got shows it being used a lot on blouse cuffs, and the waistbands of skirts. It looks really nice as an embellishment.

There was even a pattern for smocked Christmas tree ornaments in one of the books I got from the library. Now THAT is spiffy.

Spring!

In honor of the first day of spring today I started putting together the spring quilt for my mother.



As you can see I got the main blocks done this afternoon. While I was laying them out for the above photo, I decided to lay out the yellow I was planning to use as a border:



And it was lacking in something, so I spaced out the blocks a little...



Perfect!
So in the next few days I need to cut the sashing and border and finish up the top. I'm so excited!

Oh yeah. Yes, I did hand embroider those blocks. I posted one here before. But here they all are together: (click to see bigger size)

A new use for cheap place mats

can you guess what these are?


Need a hint?


Yep! I just made myself a set of sock blockers, perfect for my feet, and only $1

Here's the original placemat:

(spongebob was all I could find at the local dollar store that wasn't a dead guy hanging on a cross, seriously... wtf? Who wants a placemat with the crucifixion scene on it, and it was gruesome too, just what every person wants to look at while eating dinner...)

The instructions are here at Little Sesame Knits
It's super simple and super cheap!


I think I need to go back and pick up another placemat so I can make another set... and perhaps some contact paper. While spongebob is cute, I don't think he really works on sock blockers.


The coolest part about the new sock blockers? I can now model my new socks:

in the bag

so besides reading my pile of new books, what have I been doing?

Sewing:


we like reusable grocery bags around here, and we needed a new one. I saw the denim on sale and thought it would be perfect. It came out better than I expected, but not perfect, my corners are horrible. I think next time I do something like this I'll choose a less fiddly pattern.

I also sewed up some more tea towels.

After I was done sewing I went back to embroidery, and embroidered a Hibiscus on the tote:



the pattern is from a huge batch of transfers I got from the thrift store while we were in Watertown on Wednesday. I'm slowly scanning them all in so that I can reuse and resize them as needed. And since I was scanning them in anyways, I'm putting them up on the Hoop Love flickr pool

after I finished embroidering the bag, I finished off a shirt I was working on for myself:


yes indeed, I does match Bill's Shirt, were weird like that.

oh yeah, and I embroidered this towel for my grandmother last week:


I'm going to give it to her for mother's day.
I'm getting better at my satin stitch, this pleases me.

{edit}
the bag got washed today, and the fabric came out about 100 time better than before, and the flower just popped beautifully. the bag holds it shape nicely (but not perfectly, I think I want to add a piece of cardboard or something to give the bottom more structure.) and I wanted to take a full picture to really show how cool it looks, I'm very proud of how it turned out.

Saturday Sky

Thursday and Friday were really nice, There was hope of spring in the air.
then it snowed last night.

at least the view out our front window is pretty.



Saturday Sky, taken Saturday march 8, 2008 10:40am, front window of the Platypus nest.


and a bonus:

Book haul

Every semester we put aside a small percentage of Bill's tuition payments for books.
We are really good, and don't buy any books all semester until the money comes in.

This semester his payment was larger than we were expecting.
I got a lot of books.



From top to bottom, left to right:

The Restaurant Manager's Handbook
The Encyclopedia of Restaurant Forms
Selbuvotter
Kitty Knits
New Pathways for Sock Knitters
Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop
Doodle Stitching
And The Paisley Designs Coloring Book

I don't think I'll be getting much of anything done for a while...

New socks in progress, a shirt and some tea towels

Now that I've finally finished Tasha's socks I can do some sock knitting for myself!



The yarn is Online Supersocke in the tropic colourway.
I liked the effect I got with the reverse striping on my regia socks, so I decided to knit from both ends of the ball with these.

Then I stitched up some tea towels:



I'm going to give the cornucopia to one of my Grandmothers for mother's day, the other one is for me. We like to bake around here, and I was tickled by the idea of having a special towel just for rising bread. I don't know where those little dogs are going with my pie, but I want it back!

Both patterns were found at hoop love

and last night I finished another shirt for Bill:



We are vegetarians, and when he saw this design he thought it was too funny NOT to put on a shirt. The whole set is like this, with a giant turkey, duck and pig too. It reminds me of the Shel Silverstein poem (which I can't for the life of me remember the name of, and all my books are at my parent's)

Once again, I traced the design onto the stabilizer and ironed that onto the front of the shirt to follow. And again I had trouble seeing exactly where my stitches were going, so it isn't a neat as I would like. I really need to find a better way to get designs onto dark fabric.

I'm not sure where I found this design now, I know it's an old McCalls pattern, and I have the file on my computer with the full set, but I can't for the life of me remember where I found it.

Finally!

Yay!
I finally finished Tasha's socks!



They really weren't all that difficult. I had a few problems with sore joints, but that eventually went away.
My biggest problem was they just kept getting put aside for more mindless or interesting projects.
And I wasn't all the compelled to finish them, since they weren't for me (oh, doesn't that sound horrible!?)

Here is one modeled on my way too big for it foot:



Pattern is the scrolls pattern from more sensational knitted socks with extra plain rows between pattern rows. Yarn is knit Picks Essential on US size 1(2.25mm) Hiya Hiya's

I started another pair of socks at knit night tonight. But they are just going to be plain vanilla socks for mindless car knitting.


Oh yeah, and I also finished embroidering a T-shirt for Bill tonight.



the fabric was too dark to use my usual transfer pencil, so I just traced to design onto my stabilizer and ironed it onto the front of the shirt.
the lines aren't as neat as I would like, because I couldn't see exactly where my needle was going with he stabilizer sheet in the way, but overall I'm pretty happy.

pattern is from an old Workbasket, and also available on hoop love

Green is his favorite colour, and he likes mushrooms, it's great during the spring and fall he'll go out with his magnifying glass and identification book and spend hours just looking at strange types of fungus.

What I did today

Today I got up early and made Cinnamon buns:



Then I ironed my new t-shirt:

I forgot to save the peacock image last time, and I wanted to enlarge it, so I went hunting, and found two versions. one specifically for redwork, so it had easier to follow lines, but not all the design elements like the machine embroidery one did. a little time in photoshop and I had exactly what I wanted. I'm very pleased with this.


After that I decided to make some tea towels to embroider:

I came upon some cheap cotton the other day, and I thought it would be perfect for embroidery. I wanted to practice my hemming skills, so it was a perfect opportunity. These are just the first four tea towels. If I like how everything works out I may make more, I certainly have plenty of fabric.


And while I had the sewing machine out I decided to finish up a little girl doll I has been working on:

I think her torso is too long for her legs, but otherwise I'm happy. i enjoy coloring things in before embroidery, I really like the look


and the dachshund ornament for my cousin.

She just recently got her first dog, a dachshund and is completely in love with the adorable little guy.


earlier this week I also finished up a his and hers pillowcase set for Bill's parent's for Christmas:


they have two orange tabbies, and the kitties were just too adorable not to make.


And a Basset hound pillowcase for my father:

I think I'm going to give this to him for his birthday.

kittyyarnshirt

kittyyarnshirt
Originally uploaded by alien_sunset

just a quickie before I head off too kit night.
this is the shirt I'll be wearing tonight, I got the pattern from the flickr group hoop love

I've been a busy little beaver

But it's been mostly embroidery.

First the knitting content:
I'm almost finished with Tasha's socks, I have just the ribbing to go and they will be done. I'm hoping to work on them tomorrow on the trip to Watertown.

On the embroidery front:
I like peacocks; I especially like peacock blue thread. So I made a peacock:


I was thinking the other day about Dolls, and I wondered if I could figure out how to make one. So I found a little girl picture and went to town.



I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. I think I would have liked to have done something with her dress though, that's a lot of blank space. Perhaps next time I do one.

I was so happy with the way the doll turned out I tried another idea that had been running through my brain: Goddess Dolls. They came out better than I hoped and I really liked the way the coloring worked. I'm offering these two up for sale in my Etsy shop if anybody is interested.



With the success of the Goddess Dolls I decided to make children's dolls too, but I needed to draw the design myself in order to sell. So I started sketching. While warming up my drawing muscles I came up with a nifty little design that I though looked cool, and decided to see what it would look like worked up. I was quite pleased:


the success of my first 'art embroidery' got me going and I doodled some more and came up with a pretty heart and vine pattern that I thought would look really nice as a pillow edging. But as I was playing around I realized it would really neat on a shirt too:


(can you tell I like curlicues?)

There are meant to be flowers on the vines too, but I was having difficulty with the stitching through the stabilizer and couldn't get them to work on the shirt.

:: flail ::

OMG OMG OMG

Mondays are knit night here in Clayton, a bunch of women get together at a local cafe, and knit and chat etc.

tonight while we were all there a gentleman comes in orders a coffee and sits in a corner with his laptop.
I barely noticed him, he looked a bit scruffy, and a little familiar, but I figured he was just some local that I'd seen around town.

after he left, the owner of the cafe interrupted us.

you see... the scruffy guy? why he looked so familiar?

it was VIGGO MORTENSEN!!!

:: flails around like a silly fan girl ::

I swear to god, every single woman there freaked out, and then he came back!! luckily it was getting towards closing time, so we all had to leave or I think some of the women *cough*me*cough* may have exploded.


{EDIT}
Dear Viggo, if you ever find this (or care) we really never would have bothered you and in fact were quite impressed that you did not run scared after seeing our band of motley and slightly raucous knitters.

Embroidery, sewing and dragons, oh my!

Ok, so I'm still embroidering, but I'm running out of things to make.

I finished up a redwork dragon, and Bill is going to frame it for me along with the Pegasus I posted earlier. I think they will make a nice set.


then I made this pillow. I saw the pattern on Etsy and just had to make it. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but a pillow seemed perfect. It's so pretty! If you want to make one too the seller is here she's an amazing artist, totally go support her.


the fabric was just perfect too. It was my first time sewing a pillow case though, and I think I made the overlap too deep. Ah well, I'll know for next time.


while I had the sewing machine out I decided to whip up some more sachets for the sop while I was at it. if you want to buy you can find them here

*poke* ow *poke* ow *poke* bleed

I seem to be obsessed with embroidery.
it's so simple and the results are so pretty!

I have plans for a few pieces to make and then frame up for Christmas and mother's day presents. and I've got this wild hare to put some cute ones together in a small quilt type thing for my mom.

I may just be loosing it.
but to distract you, here have some pictures of what I've finished now:


a redwork Pegasus. I used my new washable blue tracing pencil for this guy, but it got dull before I got to the face, and it's too big to fit into a conventional pencil sharpener, so I lost a lot of face detail. also, the DMC 321 I was using bled all over. it's not as easy to see in the picture, but the fabric has a definite pink cast to it, and theres a few red splotches here and there too. I tried washing in cold water and rinsing a lot, and it helped a little, but not much.




one of the pieces I'm going to make into a quilt for mom.
it's spring themed i think, and this is the first one I finished. I used my heat transfer pencil for this one. much easer to see and stitch. but it doesn't wash out, so if I'm not perfectly careful you can see the lines.


so far so good, my technique is getting better and I'm having a lot of fun.

don't worry, I'm sure I'll run out of steam eventually, then it will be back to your regularly scheduled knit blogging.

A stitch in time?

I have acquired yet another needlework obsession:
Embroidery.

I blame it all on Kat who planted the seed with her most adorable little tomte

I was recently reminded of those little elves (gnomes?) while browsing through Making mathematics with needlework. And began scouring the web for information.

Two library books, and several web sites later, I downloaded some clip art, got out my needles and floss and got to work:

His was my first piece, and boy can you ever tell. My stitching was awful and uneven.



my second attempt:
Getting better, much more even stitching, but I think I was pulling the stitches too tight, because I got a lot of holes. Also I didn't quite have curves and corners down yet.


third:
made yesterday.
Still need a lot of work, but I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out. my French knots started out horrible, but I finally got them down in the end.



Today were going into Watertown for supplies and I'll be stopping by jo-anns for more thread and a better hoop. Weeee

sock graduation

last night was the last night of sock class!
everything went so well, I'm so happy and proud of all my students! :D

last time I had given them homework to knit a small sock, and while some people had a few problems, everybody ended up understanding what was going on.
we did the math of gauge, negative ease, and the perfect fit last night, I was most nervous about this part, but everybody got it, quick as lightening and there were no problems! I'm so happy!

And at the end everybody got their certificates of achievement.

here are my socktacular students

the good girls:


the trouble makers:


I'm so happy the class went well, and that everybody learned stuff, and came away knowing how to make socks work, I'm just floating on air today!
I can't wait until next week when everybody comes to knit night, almost everybody was ready to cast on for their socks, and I can't wait to see what they have going next week!

Cracking right along

The butterfly top is almost there; I finished the main body today, and seamed the shoulder. Now all I have to do is crochet the sleeves and the edging. I'm very exited, it even fits!

Pre-seaming:



Unfortunately, my wrist is starting to crack and hurt badly whenever I crochet. I made bred on Thursday, and them made pizza dough yesterday, and I think all the kneading pushed it over the edge. I'm going to have to take a crochet break for a couple of days so I don't permanently hurt myself.

Luckily, it doesn't hurt to knit! So I'm going to go back to Okie Dokie and get more of that done, but first... an intermission:



Knit lace sun catcher. The picture is from last night, the daytime picture is pretty but you cant see any detail.

I got the pattern from an old Anna magazine, but I bought the wrong sized ring, so I had to knit it with finer thread and needles, and take out a couple of repeats to get it to fit my ring. I'm really happy with the way it came out, but it was a bit of a PITA. I think it would be way easier to make a sun catcher like this in crochet, and I have a whole book full of snowflake patterns that would be perfect, but I need bigger rings for them to fit. (I also need my wrist to stop cracking, ah well.)


(see? No detail)

flutterbyes

no wonder I'm not making much progress on the okie dokie.

every once in a while I go though a crochet jag. my skills get a little better and I get happier, but they don't often last long, I have a problem with my wrist and if I go too long, it begins cracking and getting very painful to hook the yarn.

I'm in the middle of a crochet jag right now, and have decided to milk it for all it's worth. not only did I make P.Z. but now I'm working on a filet crochet top.

The pattern is
Not So Tiny Tops: Green Butterflies by Proper Trappings (this is another Ravelry exclusive pattern, sorry)



it's my first crochet garment and I’m making some pretty big modifications right off the bat.

the original size wouldn’t fit me, so I upped my gauge so that I wouldn’t have to fiddle too much with the schematic. I'm using Peaches & cream cotton yarn in "peppercorn obre" (soo pretty!) and an "H" hook

I still needed to fiddle though, the increase in gauge made it wider enough to fit around me, but also made it waaaayyy too long, so I had to chop a good 10 rows from the chart, which interrupted the patterning, so I fiddled that around too, not too much, since I really liked the butterflies where they were.

also had to make some minor adjustments to arm holes and neck shaping, but I’m hoping it won’t be too obvious with the finished product.

I'd like to be under the sea, in an octopus' garden in the shade

Meet P.Z.*



P.Z. is an adorable Amigurumi style Octopus from Octopode Pandemonium

Cat included for scale:



He was a lot of fun to make, it's been a while since I've made any Amigurumi, and well, Cephalopods are just irresistible!

Stats:
Time: about three days on and off, it would have been much quicker, but crocheting at a tight gauge really kills my wrist and I need frequent breaks.
Hook: G
Yarn: random blue/variegated acrylic from my stash.
I thought the variegated yet still blue of the yarn mimicked a real octopus's colour changing ability. (And it was cute!)

Before assembly:



I thought the legs looked like little blue sausages. Bill says the looked more like fuzzy blue tampons.

The body was mad in one piece, because I hate seaming. legs were 15 rounds of plain crochet.


After Assembly, aka the obligatory 'stuff on my cat' shot:



* My Husband named him after one of the bloggers he reads: P.Z. Myers from Pharyngula