Knit and crochet pattern

I am doing better at making my own original patterns in knitting and crochet. tonight I designed a half crochet hat. okay, it really is half knit and half crochet. so, for all of you knitters and crocheters out there, here is what I did:

start by using homespun by lion brand.
you will need a size j hook
you will need size 8 circular needles, 16 inches.
you will need four stitch markers
5 Stupid ass double pointed needles
and you will need a tapestry needle for weaving ends, connecting the 2 pieces of crochet together, as well as when you make that loop at the top of the hat.

single crochet a foundation row as tall as you would like the brim of your hat, I did 9 foundation single crochet.
Ch1,turn, 9 single crochet in the back loop.
repeat your back and forth bl sc, creating a ridge until the brim of the hat has the circumference of the person for whom you're making the hat.
fasten off a long tail, and sew the two pieces together, creating a tube. mindfully watch for a flat tube, not twisted.
cast-on 1 stitch per column you created. I made 52 stitches. The math for the rest of the hat is much easier if you get to a number which is divisible by 4 with a remainder of 4. (52-4= 48, 48/4= 12). Knit stitch the entire hat until it is as long as you need it to be. Mine is 11 inches tall before I start the decreases (including the brim)

Let's close this bad boy up! Knit 11, place marker, k2tog, 4 times.
Continue knitting to the marker, k2tog until the hat starts pulling on your needles. Switch knitting over for your stupid ass double points. (I hate double points, can you tell?)

Knit marker stitches together until 7 or 8 is all that's left on all your needles.

Then. Fasten off with your needle and yarn, creating the ring, and sewing in the tails :)

Perfect!

Fair isle! Knitting session 5(?)

Well, I'm chugging along just dandy with my self taught lessons in knitting. Last night I learned how to fair isle, which was one of the main reasons I wanted to learn to knit.  In fair isle, I can create original patterns for the simple projects I make. I can use fun colors together and make super unique items to sell. Fair isle also uses a lot of math, which keeps my brain happy.

for the above patterns, I used knit picks 'wool of the andes' in two color blocking shades. The pattern needed to really pop so I could see what I was doing right and wrong. I choose a 12 stitch repeat and a 6 stitch for the next. What I did,  making this a bit more difficult than it needed to be, was make this on straight needles instead of on circular needles.  Usually circular needles are used because when you knit the pattern, you follow the pattern right to left, box by box then back to the bringing of the line. Just like reading...  Well on straight needles, you can't do that, so I had to read the chart right to left, then left to right when I was on the wrong side of the fabric.  My final product is very pretty, with no dropped stitches nor major chafes on my guage.

I think I'm really going to love doing crazy colors, like a hot pink with a wooden moss, for an entire new line of creations. 

next up, I've got to get focused on xmas presents for everyone. I'd like to make my Co workers coffee sleeves, as well as some personalized hats for family. But, with December around the corner and things getting busy, who knows what will get done.

Productive weekend

Even with a conference in Richmond, I had a really great weekend got creating, inspiration and finishing.

First, crocodile man II is done, detailed, and really for a new owner.heather, at urban gypsy, told me that crocodile man (the first) was bought by a woman who lives in italy. she bought crocodile man to take back home to her grandson. it is a really awesome realization to think that something that I made 1 night is now living in a foreign country.

Seester sent me a few items to add to this week  of urban gypsy goodies. she really does make high quality crocheted items. n 2 of the pictures of love you can see where I have detailed a set of her finger gloves with a mama bird coming to visit her robins nest of eggs. don't ask me why, but I am obsessed with the color turquoise right now. Thus, these  eggs ended up being turquoise and not the traditional white or speckled or brown.

I have made it a rule that I have to complete something of knitting before I can start something new of knitting. Knitting takes so so so so so much longer than crochet.  I genuinely like knitting's final product better right now.  I suspect that once I am  as good at knitting as I am crochet, I will find out how they are equally useful , and I will hopefully lose my present obsession with the final product  look of knitting.

what you also see in the pictures of love is a head wrap with an owl detail. I have added a tree branch so sad mister owl is not just sitting all alone on that head wrap.

my goal for this week is to get ashley her a lot of items by tuesday. then, I hope to start working on christmas presents for everyone  whom I love. I also hope to finish seester's christmas hat this week and start on something for smith family member.  I would really love to make the Barfoot clan a hat each. I think that seester and I could get that done between now and christmas.

Today I taught myself...session 4

if I was to think about all the sessions where I have sat down and taught myself something new in knitting, there would probably be 4 of them up to now.

I first taught myself how to cast-on with the sling shot cast on method. I learned how to do this cast on method this summer during a nasty thunderstorm in charlottesville. this was session 1. I also tried to teach myself to knit, but it really did not work.  I cannot meet with the working hours in my right hand. I blame this on the fact that I have been a right handed crocheter all my life.

Session 2 happened at a yarn shop which is near and dear to my heart. after attempting to learn how to knit and purl on my own,  the owner of the yarn shop showed me that there is a continental knitting method.  then, using a youtube video I mastered how to knit and purl, kinda. my first sample had all my stitches twisted. the owner of the yarn shop said that it was a design element, and that I could keep that like but it would not be right. Thus, I went into doing it right by watching yet another youtube video. viva la youtube!

session 3 is where I learned  that I really should not probably be doing some of the more advanced knitting techniques while I still do not know the basics. I sat down for session number 3 and taught myself how to cable. like my friend aimee told me, it was way easier than I thought it would be.

session 4 was tonight. I bought myself a new book which is knitted gifts from interweave.  the book appealed to me because there are multiple hats and gloves and smaller projects. in particular though, there is this wonderful bag that I would like to make myself. I am addicted to bags.  the book also has is really great hybrid cowl / hat that I want to make.  in the back of the book there were 2 techniques that I wanted to learn because the owner of that yarn shop said she uses 1 of them to cast on. tonight,  I sat down and taught myself how to do that knit cast on and then the I  cord. I anticipate using the I cord for strings that will tie closed bags or for those long cords on the ear flaps.

I am not really good at predicting what I will learn in my next session. there are certain techniques (like short rows, decreases, knitting on circular needles, make one, and binding off) that I just learn because I have to learn them to complete the specific project which interests me. where as during these ' sessions', I am memorizing certain ways of doing things so that they are in my arsenal for future projects.

and did I tell you that I wrote my first pattern? its for a very simple cowl. I will put it on ravelry so that someone can test it for me.

finally, I had a very successful trip to two yarn shops this evening. jj knitting,  which is in stuarts draft,  is where I  bought some berroco vintage, the book, and 1 skein of cascade superwash. there are so many projects using cascade yarn  I thought I would have 1 in case I need it for a ravelry  based project. then in charlottesville, I stopped at the needle lady. before wyrd sisters opened, the needle lady was my favorite yarn shop in virginia. I got to return there today, and being a more informed knitter, I ask better questions and found some really exciting supplies. simply put, she has a large supply of malabrigo. and, if you don't know, malabrigo is my favorite brand of yarn. I got 1 skein of sock, and 2 different skeins of the worsted. 1 of the worsteds   is called turtle. I mean it is called Tortuga, but you know what I mean. I have been looking for it for a while, so I was super excited when I found it tonight.

this weekend I hope to get 1 knit project finished and two crochet projects completed. Hopefully my owl calorimetry will be done!  I can't wait to blog that one...

Cabler! Woot

Guess what?  Tonight I have successfully mastered a simple cable.  Really excited about knitting more this  weekend.  And I have some more patterning ideas for the patterns book,  seester!

Another month, another Afghan

Sadly I didn't get any final pictures of the auction dinner star Afghan. Our was lovely and large!

This Afghan is much different. Brown sheep worsted wool is worked into 4 different geometrically shaped squares. One circle, one square, one set of rectangles, one triangle. Of the afghans I've made I've particularly fond of this one because it's made of classier yarn, and the pattern was a group effort. this was also Emily's first group project and her expertise crochet skills really show through!  She's got the most accurate squares and she wove in the tails. So sweet.

I might be done with afghans until 2012, seeing the holidays are upon us.  I've taught myself to knit, with consult from Cate at wyrd sisters yarn shop. I'll post my bandana cowl finished project soon. Next I'm going to learn to cable!

And, stay tuned for the annual '12 days of crafting' extravaganza! the brainstorming for this year's third annual tradition began a couple nights ago!