From Garter stitch to lace

I'm very happy to see how far I have come in my knitting class in 7 classes.
On the right is my homework for my first class...a strip of garter stitch (straight knitting).
On the left is actually 2 classes...the lower part is a snowflake that I made from a chart, and the upper part is 2 pattern repeats of a lace pattern.

Two packages in the mail

It's been almost like Christmas this past week...post lady Pat popped 2 packages in my mailbox.

The first one was from a sweet girl named Arina who lives in The Netherlands.
She sent me a wonderful package of knitting patterns by Alan Dart....joy!
It's very difficult to find them here so I was really excited and grateful to receive them.
I first saw her knitted and crocheted items on her flikr page.
She and her sister, Baujke, also sell knitted, crocheted, and sewn items at Baukje en Dirkje Creaties
Thank you so much Arina!

The second package was from another sweet girl, Salihan, who lives in Australia.
Her package contained a beautifully soft Malabrigo merino scarf that she had hand knitted.
Salihan recently celebrated the relaunching of her wonderful blog
(now called Salihan crafts)
by having a draw and, as luck would have it, I won the scarf :0)
I have admired her knitted work for some time so it's wonderful to actually wear something that she has made.
Thank you so much Salihan, it will be so wonderful to wear such a warm and pretty scarf!
And don't forget to check out her blog and she is also on Ravelry.

Amigurumi Butters (crochet)

I adapted a Stan pattern by lafeecrochette on etsy into Butters by changing the hair, eyes and colour of his clothes.
This is for my 20 year old and is about 3 inches tall.

Link to amigurumi CartmanLink to amigurumi KennyLink to South Park afghan

Yarn Graffiti, Crochet Style

I've seen so many pictures of yarn covered poles and statues, stop signs, and car antennas but I have never seen one in person.
So today I decided to crochet a little graffiti starting with this ugly chain link fence that surrounds a nearby school.


It adds a little colour to an unexpected place on a dreary winter's day. But it is also not so elaborate that it will break my heart if it is taken down.
I hope it lasts for a while.

I had to be a bit sneaky to put it up without anyone seeing me, but since it was cold and windy it went quite smoothly.

I'm thinking of covering a pole next.
Edit: Well it lasted until today, May 27th, that's over 3 months...not bad!

My heart is yours!!!

My heart is yours!!!
Originally uploaded by hine

This totally cracks me up (this won the Valentine's Day contest over at Craft Magazine.)
I think the icing on the cake is the guard around it's neck, you don't want any stitches being ripped out!
Congratulations hine!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

Fingerless gloves in crochet jacquard and a little basketweave

I'm working on 2 things.
On the left is my my knitting homework from last week,
which is the basketweave stitch. It's cute isn't it and quite easy.
On the right is the beginning of the most beautiful fingerless gloves that I've ever seen.

I fell in love with these gloves by Danielle Kassner
the minute I laid eyes on them
I had never seen crochet done like this before.
So I bought the pattern and some wool
(unfortunately I had no 'scraps of sock or fingering weight yarn').
It took me a few tries but I finally found a hook that would give me gauge (I crochet loosely so I had to find a 2 mm hook).

These are done in crochet jacquard and backwards crochet, both totally new techniques for me.
(great free tutorials here).
I decided to use greens and blues as the main colours with bits of grey, white and red.

I'm only 8 rows in, but I hope to gather speed as I get better at the technique.
I'm ridiculously excited about them.
I just hope that I finish them before spring.

Art on a Paris sidewalk

By C215
Originally uploaded by vitostreet

This beautiful drawing was made on a pavement of a street in Paris.
I love how the chipped pavement looks like swirling autumn leaves and
the detail, colour, and expression of the cat is just wonderful!

A little mushroom house

I used this great free pattern from Crochet Me and made it into a little house.
It's 5 inches high and made with scrap worsted weight yarn and a size 5 mm hook.
The top part has a lid and is hollow so I can store buttons, or paperclips.

I didn't want it to tip over when filled so I put a magnet inside the trunk and I'll probably place it onto a metal base. I'm thinking of making a few of them, all lined up on a shelf or window sill to help keep my work space tidy.
The cute owl that is beside it is needle felted and was made by coltpixy

Free crochet leaf pattern with pics

I'm not sure if this will be of interest to anyone but I needed some leaves for a project and this is what I came up with.

I used a small amount of worsted weight and a 3.75 hook
It measures 3 inches long.
You can make your leaves larger or smaller
by changing the yarn weight and the hook size.
I also left a long tail when I began my chains
so that I could connect other leaves.

Directions:
Ch 14
Row1: Work one sc in second chain from hook, sc in next 3 chs, dc in next 5 chs, hdc in next 2 chs, sc in next chain, 2 sc in last ch.

Row2: You will now need work on the bottom loops(see picture below)
Work sc in next 2 loops, hdc in next 2 lps, dc in next 5 lps, sc in next 4 lps, sl st to join in 1st sc (from Row 1)
Fasten off and weave in end.

I also drew a symbol chart and included an explanation of the symbols.

Symbol Explanation

Please note that as usual all content and images are mine 
and are protected by copyright.

Beyond scarfs--beginner knitting

There are only so many scarves you can make.
Okay, maybe that is not totally true, I guess it would be more accurate to say there is only so many necks that you can make scarves for.

So this crocheter has decided to take a beginner's knitting class.
Yes. I know, hooks and pointy needles don't always get along but they are really just sisters with different clothes.
 
So on the right is  a simple garter stitch
(knit, knit, damn you knit!) but eventually we got to knitting fancy lace stitches and cables.

 

I think my biggest beef about knitting is that if you mess up, you can't just easily rip back your mistakes like you can with crochet. Or at least I can't but, I somehow think I will get a lot of practice at it.

A book list and another crochet scarf

This year I want to keep track of the books I read.
I've included a link to Amazon for each book in case you want an overview of any of them.

#1. The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
I thoroughly enjoyed the character of the 11 year old young girl Thebes.
Creative, a little crazy and extremely loyal to her family I wish I could have spent more time with her.
#2. The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman
This is not a book to be 'read' so much as viewed as it is made up of paintings and comments covering a year in the life of the author.
The paintings were often drawn from photographs that she took around New York City and I found it really interesting to get a glimpse of her life.


#3. When you are Engulfed in Flames by David Sekaris
Incredibly funny and bizarre.
I've never met anyone like him and would love to hear him read out loud on his book tours. Loved it.
-----------



I loved the scarf that I made my mum for Christmas so I decided to make one for myself.
This yarn (Vanna's Choice-rust) is leftover acrylic from the South Park blankets I made for my sons and is actually softer than the wool I used in her's.
The free pattern from Joann's is here.

Elisabeth D's gwen2 doll

Gwen2
uploaded by Elisabeth D

Amazing eh!
I'm a big fan of Elisabeth Doherty's work and I've decided to make one of her wonderful doll's for my niece's baby due in a couple of months.
I have her wonderful book
Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute
so now it is just a matter of choosing which pattern to make and then buying the yarn for it. I want to add my own spin on it and also want to make the clothes so that they can be removed. Half the fun of having a doll is being able to change her clothes.

It will be a challenging fun project indeed!

Looking back before looking forward

For a few years I was totally
obsessed with making mosaics and
then one day I just stopped.
I look back now at some of my
projects and all I can see
is my sloppy technique and
my lack of design.
But there are a couple that,
even though they are flawed,
I still really like.

I still love my birdbath that
I made out of a sink.



And I like my garden flowers that
I made from tin cans and bowls.



My stash of tiles and glass
have sat too long
in my garage.
I think, come spring, I may
dig into those bins and play.

A new year and new things to try

Every year I make the same resolution.
And every year I keep it.
It's simply to try new things.
Yes I know this doesn't sound
particularly earth shattering.
But I say or type this statement
every year as a type of mantra.
It focuses me, it challenges me.
It forces me to seek,
each and every day,
ways that I can fulfill this
promise to myself.

You'd be surprised how many
little opportunities are out there.
When you are driving home, take
a different route,
talk to the person next to you
when you're in a line-up.
(I found a great new yarn shop
who taught advanced crochet classes).
Read something you normally
wouldn't read, eat something
you have never tried.
The possibilities are endless.

Year-end balancing the books -craft wips

***2008***

was a good crochet year for
me so I thought I'd finish it
off by posting all my wips
as a statement that they would
indeed get done...eventually.

I only have 4... which I think is
a respectable number.

#1: Sew together the knitted horse
mum made me and also crochet
it's blanket of flowers.

#2: Finish the second %$#^&
knitted sock using dpn.

#3: Finish my applique

#4: Finish designing my crocheted
sheep teacosy

Happy New Year Everyone
I wish you health and happiness!!!

geekcrafts

I've been lucky to have had my works
show up on other craft sites and
just got the nod from geek crafts
for my south park amigurumi.
It's got everything from
Dr. Who to Mario to Star Wars
so check out this great site.

I'm still not happy with their eyes

I got tired of making Cartmans
so I switched to Kenny
(Xmas present for my youngest)
Working the head.



The two trouble makers.





Kenny is a bit unstable and
falls over easily.
Cartman needs his right
eye slid back up.
It must have been a rough
night for them both.

Link to South Park Afghan
Link to amigurumi Butters

A trio of French bears

Aren't these cute?



At first I thought that these were
needle felted.
They are actually made from
recycled wool sweaters.
The patterns are in the
December 08 Marie Claire Idees.
I really want to make these!

Barack Obama lives at my house

My oldest son asked for 2 books
written by Barack Obama
for Christmas so when I saw
this pattern I thought I'd
make it for him.



He's 2 1/2 inches tall which
is smaller than if you
followed the yarn and hook in
the pattern.
I decided to make him using
a dk weight yarn and 2.5 mm hook.
I also made him into a stuffed toy
instead of a puppet.
I think he would also look
cute as an ornament to mark
this historic event.
Here is the free pattern.
You just need to sign in to Lion Brand

Another knitted scarf

One of the wonderful things about the gorgeous
yarns that are available now is that even
a beginner knitter (that's definitely me)
can make a pretty scarf using
the simplist pattern.






 
This scarf is for my son's girlfriend and
as this is my first gift to her
I wanted it to be special.
It's a simple garter stitch
using 20 stitches on 15 inch needles.

The yarn is lovely,it is Lang's Mille Colori
and are stripes of deep chocolate browns with
amazing jewel purples and reds.

But what made this scarf come out so lovely
was the addition of a second thinner yarn
called Rowan kidsilk haze made from kid
mohair and silk. Not only does it add an
incredible softness to the scarf but
it also adds a slight shadowing affect
which unfortunately doesn't show
up in pictures.