Monday, June 18, 2007

One of my more stupid moments

I'm working on this project that I want to have a nice sort of open feel to part of it. So I had in my mind this idea that I would put in yarn overs to create a diamond shaped "lace" feel. But I could not for the life of me figure out how to make the yarn overs work in a way that was attractive and sturdy.

That would be because I forgot that I'd need to purl across the wrong side, not try to work in the pattern. Yep, I'm a genius.

I finally figured out what I was doing wrong as I was looking at a pattern book in Barnes and Noble last night. Went home, tried it out on my swatch, et voilá, working pattern.

Of course, I'm doing this in the round, so I'll have to remember to knit the rows after the yarn overs, but I feel much better for having figured this out. I also feel stupid, but hey, what can you do?

In other news, I have never felt any desire to knit socks. Mostly because I live in Florida, it's hot, and I try to avoid wearing full on shoes as much as possible, never mind socks (flip flops are a Florida girl's best friends). I am, however, completely in love with the idea of knitting knee socks, or stockings. I know, go figure. I picked up the Interweave Knits Summer '07 issue yesterday, and there's a pattern for both in it, so I may have to try this out. This could be the shortest-lived infatuation of all time.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Because I need another project to juggle

Today I got inspired to start on a bag I have in mind for my friend Heather's birthday. This "required" going out to buy yet another set of knitting needles. I didn't have the right size for what I have in mind. And if this thing turns out nearly half as well as I'm imagining it, I'll be quite impressed. Embellishing with a design done in embroidery floss? Creating my own cable pattern? Lining a bag? Potentially with a zippered part inside the lining? When I've never done any of those things? I am out of my mind, obviously.

I also bought a sketch pad to start writing down my ideas and jotting notes, in case I'm ever crazy enough to try to write a pattern. Or in case I think of something brilliant and don't want to forget it.

I went to Barnes and Noble at lunch today and picked up Sew U to help me in my process of teaching myself to sew. I really like the organization and the voice of the book. I'm a little discouraged by the fact that the patterns don't go larger than a 12, and I'm a couple of sizes bigger (at the moment, hoping to change that for a variety of reasons, but we'll add "sewing pattern sizes" to the list). Perhaps I can figure out how to fix them. It would be nice to be able to have three wardrobe-staple patterns that fit.

While there, I was also perusing through a few knitting books and flipped through Domiknitrix on a lark. Holy cow, I want this book. The patterns are neat, sure, but the first half of the book is a guide to all kinds of stitches, cast ons, decreases, etc., with color photography for each example and step-by-step instructions. I know how to do most of the things listed there, but it never hurts to have such a sensational reference guide. Plus, how much fun would it be to have a book called "Domiknitrix"? I'm easily amused.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Works in progress

I have four projects in various states of completion.

The one I'm concentrating most on is kind of babydoll-style tank..thing. Sort of. I don't know what to call it. I've finished the top and the straps, they're currently blocking. My goal is to finish the whole thing by the end of next week. Why? I don't know. It just seems like a good goal. But I'll have to see how long the bottom might take before I know if it's a reasonable goal.

The other thing that's getting the most attention is a blanket that I'm making for my mom for Christmas. I'm using a very pretty yarn: Andes in color 13. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to go back to the yarn store to pick up a few more hanks. Blast. Anyway, I'm doing the blanket in a stockinette/reverse stockinette block pattern. That will make more sense when there are pictures, I'm sure.

I'm also working on a couple of scarves that I've been working on for a good 8 months now. I just got distracted by doing other projects that I've put the scarf making to the wayside.

In an attempt to get through some of my stash, I think I'm going to make some pillows. Stitch N' Bitch has a couple of pillow patterns, one that has a bunch of loops, and it looks like it could be fun. And I don't know what else to do with some of these yarns. They're not really of the quality or quantity that I'd want to use for most of the projects I have in my head. So we'll see.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

A few other finished projects

I'd really rather just start posting new works in progress, but I also want to have a record of these finished project, so here we go.

Fingerless mittens
I made these fingerless mittens for myself for work, because my office is so cold. I'd made another pair following a pattern from Stitch N' Bitch (I'll have to go look that up), so I made these based on what I'd learned from the first pair. I also can't remember the name of the yarn I used, but it's so soft and lovely and wonderful.

Lace headband
I wanted to try my hand at lace knitting but I needed something small, so I came up with this plan to make a headband. I got the lace pattern from knitting-and.com and kind of just made up the rest of it as I went along.

Space Invaders pillow Space Invaders pillow back
I found a pattern for Space Invaders on knitty.com, and I decided to make a pillow for a friend for his birthday. These photos are from it's blocking phase. I forgot to take a picture of it when it was finished.

Felted purse

My first projects were the requisite scarves. I made a ton for people for holidays last year. I don't have many photos of those, though.

The first major project I decided to try was a purse, from this episode of Knitty Gritty. I made some changes, though: no pattern, just a free-hand "image," and wooden-like handles opposed to knitted handles. I used Lion's Brand Wool in three different colors.

I'd never used double-knitting before, or felting, so it was an adventure. And I really like the results!

Felted purse, pre-felting
Bag, pre-felting

Felted purse, post-felting
Post-felting, drying.

Felted purse finished
Finished purse, ta-da.


I wish it were a little bigger. And that I'd made the closures a little more secure. I love using this purse, but it's difficult to carry everything I'd like.

Well, here I am.

I don't know why, but I decided that I didn't want to use my livejournal to blog about my crafty projects. I wanted something separate. So here I am.

I knit. I am about to attempt sewing. I love my hot glue gun, and think magnetic tape was the best invention ever. I like using knitting patterns as inspiration and like to make things up as I go. I have some inexplicable avoidance to knitting socks; could be because I prefer to be barefoot whenever possible.

The title of the blog comes from a Metric song, "Glass Ceiling." I like Metric. A lot. I like other bands, too. You can ask me about them if you like, but since they're not the focus of this blog, I will try not to rave about music too much.