Knitting-A-Long

On my way to work this morning, I was thinking that I needed to blog.  It's been awhile.  Only I wasn't sure what to knit about.  But as I was driving along and listening to a new-to-me podcast the idea struck me.  I would talk about the Knit-A-Longs.

First time I attempted a Knit-A-long (KAL) was last year around this same time.  It was a bunch of folks on Twitter. I am sad to say that project is still on my needles, buried in the bottom of my knitting bag. I'm not sure if it's the yarn or what, but I just dread the thought of working on that project. So if I can find any other project to work on, I do.  Hence the still on the needles part after a year.

However, I did not let this travesty prevent me from jumping on board to do more KALs this year.

My LYS (local yarn store) mentioned back in December that they were going to host a sock-along KAL for 2011.  The KAL would feature a different sock pattern and different yarn for each month of the year.  Since I've wanted to learn to knit socks and my hubby had been after me to knit him some socks, I thought why the heck not!  Let's do this!  So I did. I actualled started and finished knitting my first pair of socks in January.  And boy did I learn a lot! Whew!  But the cool part was knitting along side all the other ladies working the sock-along.  It was fun to see everyone's progress and finished object (FO).

For January, we did the Ann Norling Basic Adult Sock pattern. (This is a Raverly Link. If you're not a member of Raverly you can click here.)  It's not a free pattern, but because I joined the sock-along, and bought the featured yarn at my LYS, they tossed in the pattern for free.  So score! 

The sock yarn featured in the January sock was S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes. Everyone else loved this yarn.  As for me, the juries still out.  It was a little stiff to work with for me. But that could have been because it was my first time knitting a sock and using the double pointed needles (dpns).  It was very different let me tell you.  But after working on the new sock last night, I can tell I'm learning.  Things went so much easier.  My cast on and joining worked the first try!  GO ME!

I enjoyed myself so much that I climbed on board for the February sock.  I cast on and got a good start on it last night. It's an independant designer pattern and I haven't seen it on Raverly yet.  But once it is I'll link it.  But the yarn is awesome.  It's Karabella Aurora 4 in hot pink.  Well, it's not really a hot hot pink, or atleast not what I would call a hot hot pink. But I do love it.  It's a fun color.  Can't wait to see (and wear) the final product because this yarn is so squishy.  I love it.

So, you may be thinking wow, cool KAL.  And it is.  But it's not the only one.  Oh no.  You know me, I'm a glutton.  GLUTTON I tell you!

When I heard about the KAL for the February Ladies Sweater on the Knit Wits podcast I knew I had to join in.  I've had this pattern in my que for awhile, but it's a sweater and... Yikes!

But with the help of so many other knitters doing the KAL and my desire to finally knit a sweater, I decided to go for it.  I'll keep you updated on the progress of that as it moves it along.  I'm still working the yoke now and can I just say... Buttonholes. Ugh!

And....  What, you thought I was finished?  No way.

I heard about a new KAL project on the CogKNITive podcast, and I really hope I can join this one too before time runs out.  It sounds like such a good, charitable thing and the end product is so flipping cute and would make a child so happy.  It's the Mother Bear Project. The idea, which is explained in greater detail on the website and in Dr. Gemma's podcast, is you knit or crochet a bear and donate them to the Mother Bear Project and they find homes for these bears with kids who have been diagnosed with HIV or who have been orphaned because of  HIV.  It's so sweet to see the photos on the website of the kids who have received their own bear.  I need to find some fun yarn and cast my bear on.  So if you have a mind to do so yourself, please jump in.

So wow.  That's three KALs I'm knitting-along with.  So what about you?  Care to join me?

Off and Running

Well the new year is officially off and running.  Seems like the year started out with a bang and might just continue the trend.  We had some snow and ice down here in the south that completely shut down the city for a week.  It was insane but very pretty.  And to be honest, I did enjoy playing and sledding in it.  My daughter had a blast as well.

So what has been going on so far, well, a few things other than the snow.  I joined a sock-along for 2011.  The January sock is the Adult Sock pattern by Deirdre Wallace in the Ann Norling #12 pamplet (Raverly Link).  The way my local yarn store (LYS) are running the sock-along is you buy the yarn and they give you the pattern.  So, I thought why not?!  There are 1,087 finished objects (FOs) on Raverly for this sock.  I'm knitting this one for my hubby so it's a bit larger than I would like for my foot.  But for his foot it appears to be right on the money.

But I think I will have to pass on next month's sock since I've joined on to do a KAL with the Knit Wits.  I can't wait to dive in.  It's a sweater and will be my first. YIKES! I'll post more about this in the coming days/weeks.

With that in mind, I'm also still working on in progress projects.  One has been on the needles for almost a year.  I feel guilty about not finishing this one, but not really enough to just finish it. Sigh! Oh well.

In other news, I've been toying with the idea of starting my own podcast.  I'm not there yet, but it could happen sometime this year. But I also plan to blog more. Honest to goodness.  I will do it.

And with that in mind, I'm going to sign off this post because I have to get busy working. TA!

10 in 2010 ~ Crochet

Well all righty!  In my last blog post I discussed my knitted projects over the last year.  Therefore, this post will be dedicated to crochet.

I had a desire to learn to crochet and simply could not master anything but chaining and that just would never do.  So I hit up the wonders of the You Tube and watched video after video and practiced.  So I'm happy to say that I figured out the chaining, the single crochet and the slip stitch.  I figured out the increase and the decrease and made some pretty neat things.

So with that in mind here goes (Again, pattern links are to Raverly).

10 in 2010 ~ Crochet

My very first crocheted project that saw the light of day was a scarf.  I figured it was the most straight forward design. Simple back and forth, but I wanted to use variety of color and thought the hot pink complemented the yellow nicely.  So score! I mastered two things at once, well actually three things - turning, single crochet (only I didn't realize until I was finished that I crocheted through the front loop only), and changing colors. 

I found this pattern on Raverly. The pattern is called Dot's Little Ditty Bag.  It is so flipping cute. It also helped me realize that knitting through one loop create the cute spiral, I learned to increase and how to crochet loops. This was also a quick project.

This is a variation on the Dot's Little Ditty Bag. I increased stitches and modified the pattern to create the handles.  In addition to learning that changing colors while working this pattern created an obvious running seam.  Hince the flowers.  A new things to learn and hey, they helped disguise the running seam nicely.

 This little angry bird is so ugly! The real pattern, Birds of a Feather, is super cute. But mine... Not so much.  Maybe one day I'll try my hand at this again.  My major learning experience with this one is to attached eyes and nose and mouth, etc, before stuffing and seaming.

This adorable hat is just that. Adorable! The pattern is simply called Pumpkin Hat and I'm surprised more people have not crocheted one. I learned decreases and joining and how to create a brim. A very fun to learn.  Plus, my daughter looked so cute in this hat this fall.  She wore it all the time.

This is just a non-hat rendition of the Pumpkin Hat.  I originally thought I wanted to make me and my daughter matching hats.  Then decided I did not.  So I stuffed this baby and seemed up the bottom, and viola, I have a fall decoration.



Dishclothes! What a great learning experience.  Adding the trim and borders and the texture. Just by alternating between the front and back loop creates a very cool texture.  These were super easy and fast.  I made three of these.

Last but not least, a personal design. I needed one more crocheted project to complete to reach my 10 in 2010 goal.  This started out as another dishcloth. But after pulling the project from my daughters clutches I noticed that it created a cool design and have a nice curve and a perfect wrist size. So I chained a loop and attached a button and have a cool bracelet.

So that's it.  That's my 10 in 2010 ~ Crocheted projects. Yay!

10 in 2010 ~ Knitted

I know I haven't posted in like a super duper long time.  I can't believe how crazy busy I have been.  Seems like I have been on the go nonstop since September. But the holiday season is almost over.  Just waiting on that New Year to pop on in and then things might settle down for a few.  One can hope right?!

Anyways, I thought I would write up a few year end posts.  Since I signed up for the 10 in 2010 challange on Raverly I figured I'd start there.  First thing I wanted to do with this challenge is take my knitting to the next level, maybe even do some personal designing and just hone some skills.  Secondly, I wanted to learn to crochet.  I've tried to crochet in the past but never could get past the chaining stage. So with those two goals in mind, here goes my first 10 in 2010 post. (The pattern links are to Raverly.  If you're not a member sign on up.  It's a great community and membership is free.)

10 in 2010 ~ Knitted

First, I tried my hand at jewerly.  A very simple necklace worked up using the I-cord pattern and Needle Loft canvas yarn. I was inspired to try this after doing some Etsy searches and seeing some of the handmade jewerly.

Second, I worked myself up some very comfy and warm slipper socks using my Knifty Knitter Loom.  This was my first loom project. And, so far, my last.  I haven't used the loom again since making these.  Guess I should pull the loom back out and work something up on it.

One of my next projects is a bit of tricky project.  It started out as something completely different than what it ended up being.  Sadly, this is the only photo I currently have this project.  I need to take a new photo and when I finally get one taken I'll update the post.  But what this ended up being is a poncho.  I've worn it a few times and folks seem to like it.  Well, at least they tell me they do. This is one of those personal designs I mentioned earlier.  Since I completely changed direction with this project halfway into it, I made the second half up as I went along and VIOLA! a new design is born.  But it's not perfected by any means.  Needs a lot of tweeking.  But I have thought about working on that by making a second. Maybe in 2011.

Another personal design.  I call it Gray Day Shawlette.  It's very warm and I want to work out some of the kinks in this one as well.

The Wham Bam Thank You Lamb cowl. Sadly, I wasn't crazy about how this turned out.  Could have been the yarn or the fact that I used a larger size needle.  Regardless, I still think I like the pattern and will work this up again.  My goal with this one was bust some stash, and in that regard, I did acheive my objective.

Next up, another personal design.  This is a small satchel I knitted for my mom for Mother's Day.

I was asked by a super, sweet little boy to knit him a 'water blue' scarf.  So that's what I did.  This was knitted up just using the basic garter stitch and holding two strands of Knit Picks Shine Sport yarn together.  If I've never mentioned this before, I love Knit Picks!  They are awesomesauce.  Their yarn is very reasonably priced and goodness gracious but I've fallen in love with their Harmony Needles.

The Black Widow Headband.  This was totally not the right yarn choice for this headband.  Way to small.  But I like the design and hopefully will bust some stash up next year and try it again.

Another stash busting project - The Log Cabin Washcloth.  I plan to make many more of these.  Not only did it bust some stash, but helped me learn the skill of picking up stitches.  I highly recommend this pattern.

This was a fabulously fun and funky project.  It's called the Fabulous Funky Fringe Scarf.  I actually purchased this pattern (and yarn Karabella Vintage Cotton) through my LYS (Local Yarn Store). I spied one they'd knitted up and had on display and after seeing it a few times while attending knit night, I decided I needed one.  I wore this to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and loved it. Well, loved the scarf and the show.  I actually love this pattern and yarn so much I purchased some in black and plan to do a black and pearl scarf next year.  While working this pattern was also the first time I usesd Hiya-Hiya Bamboo Needles.  These were a pleasure to work with. I do recommend this needle as well.

So that is a total of 10 knitted projects.  However, that is not all of my 2010 pojects.  So here a few more completed projects for the last year.

My first in-the-round project- The Honey Cowl.  This one took me awhile to figure out.  I kept twisting my stitches and basically ended up knitting this cowl twice. It was a big lesson learned. On to a mini-rant concerning this project, the yarn I used was an acrylic yarn, James C. Brett Marble Chunky.  I saw it at my LYS and loved the colors.  I thought it would make a very nice, cozy cowl for the autumn months.  And for the amount of yardage in one skein the price is actually very decent. Only, halfway through my skein of yarn the ply changed (It was a two-ply chunky yarn).  Instead of being plyed with the same color, it was now plyed to two different colors.  Now, had the entire skein been plyed this way and my cowl been knitted in this fashion it wouldn't have been an issue.  But since I was halfway through my project this change really stands out.  I wasn't happy with this.  However, I do LOVE this cowl and this pattern.  I used the mid-size cast on.  I will knit this again and use the large size and a solid color yarn.

Another personal design.  This one turned out so much lovelier than I thought it was going to.  I found some Cascade Pearls Yarn on sale at my LYS, and I loved the colors and the uniqueness of the yarn.  It is a blend of cotton and rayon. I knitted the body of the caplet with two strands of the Cascade yarn held together and it has such a lovely drape and springiness to it. The collar is Bergere de France Teddy yarn.  It really made the finished object what it is.  I just love it.  Too bad, my daughter didn't love it as much.  She gets mad at it when she wears it.

And yet another personal design.  I call this the Half-Way Wrong-Way Cowl.  Simply because I messed up half way through the cowl and started knitting backward.  but it worked out great because it gave the front of the cowl some extra bulk and makes the buttons stand out.

Can you guess?  Yep!  Another personal design.  Not only did I work this up in my little brain, but I also dyed the yarn.  I plan another blog post to detail that funness.  The purse is really cute, but I think it is a more spring time purse so it's waiting patiently for spring to arrive.

One final project that I knitted in 2010 is the Pandora Scarf from the One-Skein Wonders book.  I have not taken a photo of the finished project yet.  But I knitted this one up using Ella Rae Bamboo Silk yarn.  It is much smaller than the pattern calls for.  I wear it as decoration more than anything else.

Yikes!  I almost forgot the South Park hat I knitted up for a friend of mine's little 9 month old baby.  I didn't have a pattern so I had to wing it with the hat.  And as luck would have it... No time to take photos of it.  It got wrapped up and placed under the tree before I could even think photo.  So maybe one day I'll get a photo of him wearing it.

Wow.  I think that does it for finished knitting projects in 2010.  Maybe I'll start a post of unfinished projects one day soon.  But for now, I think this will wrap up this post.  It's already ubber long.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds ~ Oh So Nice

I have a new Oh So Nice for this week....  Roasted Pumpkin Seeds!  I think these little devils are addictive.  I can't stop eating them.  Here's how to make them if you didn't already know.

First: buy a pumpkin.
Second: gut your pumpkin taking out all the innards. Sounds gross huh?
Third: remove all the stringies and things.
Fourth: melt 2 TBS butter and poor over your seeds.
Fifth: lightly salt.
Sixth: bake 45 mins in a preheated 300 degree oven. Or until they are nice and toasted and crunchy.
Seventh: eat them!

That's it.  They are delish.