Valentines 2009

Every year I craft something small for Valentines. The project this year was lollypop covers!

There is not much to note. The pattern was perfectly written. I used red, pink and white Red Heart Super Saver Yarn and the recommended hook. Soooo cute, soooo fun, ...... awhhhhhhhh ;)

I found this pattern years ago, copied it and filed it away for "someday". The pattern use to be offered for free over at www.crochetmemories.com but I can't find it there anymore (thank heavens I saved a copy!) and they are blocking their site from the Wayback Machine. It's not a difficult pattern though, so maybe you can pick it out from the photo ;)

My Ravelry project page for Heart Lollypop Cover.

Wristwarmers

This wristwarmer pattern is one of my first designs. I like keeping my hands warm and I also want use of my fingers. These have been a favorite item of my daughter Sarah for whom I have made many pairs! Through the years I've fine tuned the pattern by adding shaping across the top of the wristwarmers (giving it a snugger fit) and around the thumb.

The pattern is free and can be downloaded here. Enjoy!

First Felting Project

I've been wanting to try a felting project for some time but have never gotten around to it -- other projects always crowded ahead of it. During the fall 2008 semester I took a fabric structures class and one student chose felting for her semester project and from her work I was inspired to push it to the front of my "to do" list and give it a try.

This bag is called "Snaps" by Laura Kochevar from the book Bags - A Knitter's Dozen. It turned out "ok" but the fabric of the bag is very thick -- I felted it too much :( -- Also, the design did not have a bottom for the bag, it is just two pieces of knit fabric sewn together and because I over-felted it, this is accented even further. I love the knit design but I'm not sure when or what I'll find a use for this bag.

DETAILS:

I used Classic Wool Merino by Patons
--2 skeins - Black Tweed
--1 skein - Rich Red Tweed
Both these colors had flecks of colored yarns woven in and I had hoped that since these yarns were acrylic and not wool that they would "pop" out when felted. Unfortunately, there was no "pop" of flecks -- because I over felted I don't know if the flecks felted into the fabric or fell off.

Before felting, the bag measured 19½" across the top, 23½" across the bottom and 21½" deep.

After felting, the bag measured 15½" across the top, 16½" across the bottom and 12½" deep.

To make the handles the pattern called for knitting a strip of fabric in stockinette stitch, sewing it up and then felting it. Well, that was too much work for my taste, so I hauled out my icord spool and knit the cord around a doubled piece of twine.

My Ravelry project page for First Felting Project.

Little Teddy Bear

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and I just had to give it a try. This cutie is the Little Teddy Bear from the book Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi by Tomoko Takamori.

There were a couple of aspects with the book worth noting (I didn't buy it, I borrowed it from my library). The patterns are written using an interesting mix of words and symbols that I hadn't seen before but they were explained well in the book and I found this method easy to read and follow. The biggest problem was missing instructions. Both the arms and legs were incomplete -- an additional 8 rows had to be added for each. A search on the internet for the answer found that other patterns in the book had errors too and for many people it was a frustrating aspect of the book. The assembly instructions were VERY clear and precise and I appreciated that because it's not my favorite part of making stuffed animals.

Notes:

I used scraps of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn. Other people report successfully using Lion Brand Wool-Ease and Caron Simply Soft.

Because Super Saver is stiff, I threw all the parts into a laundry bag and washed them before assembly.

I used a H hook and it turned out fine but a G hook would work too (producing a slightly smaller bear)

The eyes are 9mm solid black eyes with a washer back from Darice.

He measure 8" (stretched out) from the tip of his ears to the bottom of his feet and 6" high when sitting.

I think he's just the cutest and he joins "the boys" who sit on the bookshelf overlooking my desk!

My Ravelry project page for Little Teddy Bear.

Grrlfriend Market Bag

I've been busy making things ... I promise! I have quite a few small projects to blog about and one HUGE one that I haven't figured out how to write about so I'll start with the little ones.

I love making bags and this one intrigued me by the way it was started using the Emily Ocker's Circular Cast On, which is another knitting technique from Elizabeth Zimmerman's book Knitting Workshop.

I learned about a technique when knitting a lacy pattern that would save a LOT of heartache and prevent a headache if you have to rip out rows: After the last row of a repeat (or whenever you want, just remember to write down the row number) using a yarn needle with a piece of waste yarn, thread it through the stitches on the needle. If you ever have to ripe back then these stitches will be held in place and can easily be put back on the needle.

The lace pattern of this bag is very simple and when I did have to rip back I didn't have too much of a problem, but if I was working a more complicated pattern I would want to use this technique!

I stash bushed my Bernat's Organic Cotton:
1) The bottom portion was knit using yarn which was dyed in my Fabric Structures class using just yellow onion skins!
2) The body of the bag is the color Hemp
3) The top band and strap uses the color Mineral Spring

I forget which size needles I used. The pattern lists ranges of needle sizes for the various parts of the bag and is not specific (that's the beauty of the pattern, wing it for any size and a one-of-a-kind bag!) I think I used 6's for the bottom, cuff and strap and 8's for the body. I wanted a small netting for the body so I did not go up to suggested size 10's for the body.

The pattern for Grrlfriend Market Bag is available for free over at Ravelry.

Double Sided Cable Scarf

Super cute scarf with a cable technique I had to try. The cable is done as k1,p1 ribbing which makes it reversible! The pattern is from the Sweater Surgery blog and available for free here:

To make this pattern work I swapped ROW 5 and ROW 10 – I don't think I was reading the pattern backwards or incorrectly but whichever way I was reading it, switching the instructions for those two rows made it work.

Notes:

Size 8 needles

1 skein of Naturally Caron Country Yarn-Peacock

My Ravelry project page for Double Sided Cable Scarf.

Slipper Boots

I loved the challenge of this pattern. There were lots of different crochet techniques and I have two pages of written notes that helped me get through the pattern!

The pattern is from an Annie's Attic publication titled Quick Stitch Simple Slippers and the pattern is called Slipper Boots. The pattern is clearly written (there was never a question about what to do) but I did have to diagram out what was happening (and where) and I also needed to make a list for the ending stitch count for each row. Markers are a MUST for this pattern!! My advice -- mark, mark, mark and mark again for good measure. You'll be glad you did.

There were two crochet techniques used in this pattern that look like knitting. One is rows of slip stitching in the back loops and the other is the split single crochet stitch. These stitches are very thick so it wouldn't be practical to crochet an entire garment using these stitches(just knit it, in that case!) but for an accent area they are extremely effective and interesting.



Notes:

2 skiens of Moda Dea Washable Wool in Raspberry

Scrap amounts of Red Heart Super Saver in Aran and Grey Heather

I achieved gauge with H and I hooks

I worked the 9-inch size

I made these slippers for Sarah and she has carpeting throughout her apartment but I would add some sort of gripping material for the bottoms if these were to be used on tile or wood floors.

My Ravelry project page for Slipper Boots.