Holiday Knitting

Its that time of year again! God, I love the holidays. Mostly because I love giving presents, and I love having an excuse to knit! The best part is trying to personalize each gift. The hard part is trying to figure out if they would like it. Most patterns are at least slightly outdated, so its up to me to tweak them to suit my needs. I sometimes just cut out the middle man and ask my friends what they want me to knit them. I show them the pattern and some yarn choices. I usually deviate some from that but it at least gives me an idea of what they like.

Take this ribbed cowl. I knit it for myself and my friend said she really liked it. She asked me to make her one. I asked her what color she wanted and she said the very same one. Which was a relief because I happened to have an extra skein of that yarn!
I hope I can accommodate my Jewish friends and can get some done before Hanukkah! Its coming so early this year.

Baggie baggie baggie can't you see...

So I made this little baggie to put Nina's bday present in, a hand-knit thong! I still haven't finished the thong but I finished the baggie. I kinda just made up this pattern because I wanted something flat-knit but with holes to see whats inside. I'll post the pattern here for anyone interested.

Baggie:
CO23
Work stock for 8 rows, slipping first stitch purlwise
Sl 1 (K2tg, k2tg, yo, yo) across row
sl first stitch, stockinette for 14 rows
*Sl 1 (K2tg, yo) till last 2, k2. Next row Sl 1, purl across. Repeat for 8 rows.*
Sl 1, work stockinette for 34 rows
Repeat *
Sl 1 work stockinette for 8 rows
Sl 1 (K2tg, k2tg, yo, yo) across rows
Work stockinette 8 rows, BO
Seam sides, RS in. Then loop scrap yarn through the top loops.

Happy Father's Day! Oh, wait.

Well, last week I finally finished my Father's Day scarf for my dad. Better late than never, and its the thought that counts, right? Its 90 degrees outside anyway.

Shrug #2!

All done and given to my sister. This one was made from wool yarn unlike the last which was cotton. Its also machine washable, which is always good.

Summer Projects

This knitting thing is lasting longer than many expected, including myself. Besides convincing myself it can be somehow related to feminism I have also found it to be rather relaxing, interesting, and thrifty. Yes, three adjectives in a row. Score.

Right now I'm working on a Father's Day scarf (more like a end-of-August scarf at this rate) along with a series of dishcloths to replace those my roommate has taken with her into Columbia Heights. So far I've finished two small ones out of leftover yarn from my shrug, one heart shaped one and a squarish one, but they're basically useless because they're too small to hang from the oven handle or to dry anything substantial. In an effort not to waste my precious yarn (my preeciousss) I decided to shred some cotton t-shirts to see what happens when I knit them up. I tried to make it a good 1-inch wide strip but it probably varies between 1/4 inch and 1.5 inch, with an average of about 1 inch I'd say. This first one is coming out alright, I decided to do a k2 row, p2 row repeat because I couldn't chose between stockinette and garter stitch. I have another ball of t-shirt yarn to use so maybe the next one I'll try to cable or something cool like that.

knit-a-lodeon

So sometimes I like to take videos of me knitting while watching TV in a snuggie, what's it to ya? I wanted to see what I looked like when I knit. Now I know how I look to the rest of the world, absolutely ridiculous.
I'm working on an Antro-Inspired Capelet for my sister, this time in a 100% wool Tidepool Heather instead of a cotton-blend Ivory. I hope she likes it!

Little dudes

I'm gonna start making some of these little dudes to use up my leftover yarn from my projects. I only have one set of double-pointed needles and they're size 3 metal ones I bought before I even knew how to use them. I couldn't make the ears the way the pattern said to (I kept losing track of which needle to use next) so I just made them flat with stockinette stitch in the middle and k1 on the edges, they are only 4 stitches wide. Also, my seaming rather sucks ass. All in all I rather like this little dude, I might include him with my dad's father's day gift.

Scarflet Done!

All done! I decided to sequin the flap-thingies because I messed up one part on one side and then I had to even it out. I rather like how it came out! Next project- a scarf for dad, hopefully by father's day!

Potholders for Momma!

I was planning on knitting my mom some sort of shawl or scarf for her birthday, but she insisted she needed a potholder so I started knitting one intermittently quite some time ago. Needless to say I was quite bored by the project and decided to unravel it recently and start over, but this time doubling up the tweed orange wool yarn I had in my stash with a red Knit Picks wool for felting purposes and extra insulation. I rather like how they turned out, though I like the last one I knit the best because I decided to ditch the complicated stockinette deal I had going and just knit a garter potholder. Next time I'll just stick to the garter, I held the yarn triple so it knit up very quickly, in less than a day in fact! It shrunk a lot when I felted it but its very thick and useful! I don't like the color combo so much but it was what I had and my mom loves them! I ended up making 3 and *almost* using up all my orange yarn! The ball left is soo small but I can't bear to throw things away!

Finished!

Done with my capelet! I used a button-cover that my mom found in her jewelry. Oooh vintage! lawl I also unraveled that potholder and decided to double up that yarn with a worsted red wool yarn and hopefully felt it for a more heat-resistant cloth.

Cavy Cages for Carmen!

Now, I'm going to talk about the biggest, and most worthwhile, craft project of the year: my guinea pig cage!
You see, it all started with one little guinea named Lulu. Lulu came to me alone in a 1x2ft store-bought cage along with a plastic "pigloo". I immediately began to research the proper care and housing of guinea pigs and stumbled upon a lot of surprising information. Mostly it sums down to the idea that the pet stores are misinformed about the proper care of guinea pigs, and they pass this misinformation to pet owners worldwide. Guineapigcages.com served as the main source for my plan to build a roomy guinea pig cage that could also serve as a storage unit. I went through many different formats of cubes and [insert material] as possible until I found some fairly priced coroplast that could be shipped to my home. Though it is cut into 14x14 inch squares I managed to get together a useful cage that my guinea pigs love! The structure is made of wire grids (or "cubes") that I found in a variety of places, the bottom consists of squares of coroplast taped together to prevent any seepage, it is then lined with newspaper and lastly topped with a fleece blanket (I have 4 I bought at CVS for $2.50 a pop). The hay rack is made of a bent cube, I use a doggy bed for them to sleep on ($5 CVS, and they love it!) and a piggloo and water bottle is shown below. I have a bunch of houses and bottles so when one is being washed I can use the others. It is a work that is constantly under construction as I find more innovative ways of cleaning and feeding them. Of course, now I have 4 lovely piggies to fill it: Lulu, Reed, Lily, and Rose.

Capelet City!

So, I've made definite progress on my first legit piece of clothing! It actually looks like something sweater-like. I hope that I'm done sooner rather than later, but exams don't end until next week so we'll see! Its a winter capelet anyway so I have tons of time.

Finals Time!

All I've really done knitting-wise is think up a few more pieces I want to start as well as trying to get a move on the pieces I'm already doing! I'm gonna stop myself from starting a new piece until I finish either a) the potholder for mom, or b) my knitting needle case. The latter I'm basically winging it, its just for me anyway! If it turns out alright I might make it into an actual pattern, but right now its more of a sketch on the back of a piece of paper shoved into my knitting bag. I have sooo much yarn that I just got in from Knit Picks, so I've got to get on these!

Why Hellloo!

I have a few knitting projects started in my bag right now, but there is too much school work to be done and never enough time to knit! Its a tragedy really. Right now I'm working on a purple hat for myself, and a potholder for my mom! Oh yes and several essays. Feel free to find me on ravelry!