New Yarn For Knitting

  I'm still knitting ear warmers.  I knit up three for dear daughter in the last few weeks (gray, red and teal), but now all the rest will be for me.  I'm doing them in all the colors of acrylic yarn that I have that I like.  I will have a whole wardrobe of ear warmers in different colors.

     I was playing on Amazon one night and found these yarns, so I had to have these to make more ear warmers for me.  I love the idea of the neon colors popping up with the neutral, I just hope it knits up as cute as it looks in the skein.  Of course it's Red Heart, the gray is called Rock Candy and the black is called Licorice.

    I'll let you know how they knit up after I get to them.  I have about three colors in front of them.  I'm knitting up a light blue ear warmer right now.

Three More Ear Warmers Done

   I knitted up three more ear warmers in the last couple of weeks along with the turquoise one from the last post.  I picked out yarn for two more and I'm halfway through the first of those two.    I knitted a white one, a mulberry one and a dark blue one.  I'm really loving how I made these.

Knitted Ear Warmer/Headband

       I made a simple ear warmer/headband using my favorite hat pattern.  I modified it a little, I used less stitches.  I started with 90 stitches instead of 100.  Knitted the 3 x 2 rib for about 5", then I bound off and whip stitched the two ends together to double up the knitted fabric and got this.   I'm going to make more in other colors.  This would be perfect to wear under a hat on a really cold day or by itself.

Homemade Kitchen Gifts

   I finished making the potholders, hanging dishtowels, and knitted dishcloths for my niece who is getting married in June.  I sent a picture to her parents last night to let them know what is going on and to verify an address to mail and her Mom said she will love the colors.

   I made one change to the potholders binding.  I cut the binding 2.75" wide and it fit a lot better since it was binding two layers of fabric, two layers of batting, and one layer of Insul-Brite.

    This is eight knitted dishcloths, 4 quilted potholders, and 4 hanging dishtowels.  It turned out to be a nice set.

Happy New Year Everyone!

  I was just sitting here trying to decide on my favorite make in 2018.  And my favorite make for 2018 has to be the long Christmas stocking cap I knit earlier this year.  I really enjoyed wearing it during December.  I wore it as often as I could on the weekends when it wasn't too warm out.  I had one comment from one young lady who thought it was cool.

    I already have projects started for 2019.  I've got pajama pants cut out to sew up, the black hat I'm knitting is almost done and I have an idea for a couple of Christmas table runners that are waiting for additional fabric and then will be ready to be cut out.  All of this should keep me busy in January.  And I still have to finish my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

   I'll be spending New Year's Day cleaning my oven and refrigerator, and taking down Christmas decorations.  I think that's a good way to spend the first day of the year.

   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WELCOME 2019!

The Black Lace Knit Scarf Is Finished

   I finished the scarf this morning before work.  It's a little over six feet long and it took about 1.5 skeins of Vanna's Choice yarn,  I love this.  It will join others in my wardrobe.  I made one in white, blue, and grey this year.  I will be making more in different colors.  It's an easy pattern and it is really nice doubled up when I wear it.

More Knitting Projects

   I shouldn't have even started these knitting projects, but I wanted a hat and scarf made with black yarn.  Of course, my yarn is acrylic.  One of my favorite acrylic yarns is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in black.  This yarn is super soft and so affordable.  I bought four skeins from JoAnn's the other day.  They were on sale for $2.99 a skein and I got an additional $20% off, so the four skeins ran $9.57 plus tax.  I ordered them online and picked them up in the store.

    I'm making The Boyfriend Hat, my favorite knitted hat pattern.  Link to knitted hat pattern.  It's a 3 x 2 rib that comes out perfect every time.  I'm going to make this one a little slouchy and see if I have enough yarn to make a pom pom.  I knit this hat in the round on a 16" -  size 7 circular needle.  When I get to the crown decreases I move my stitches onto two circular needles, splitting the 100 stitches to 50 stitches on each needle and work the decreases that way.  It's the easiest way for me to make my hats.  I could always use magic loop, but two circulars works really well for this project.
Yes, I know there are a lot of stitch markers, but they really help me know where I'm at when I'm knitting one hundred stitches.  I put a stitch marker in for each 10 stitches and with 3 x 2 rib that includes 3 knit stitches, 2 purl stitches, 3 knit stitches and 2 purl stitches, so as long as I can count to 10 I can tell which stitch I'm supposed to be making.  It's very helpful to me have all these stitch markers in here.

    I'm also making a lacey knitted scarf in the same black yarn.  It's the same pattern I used two other times this year to make scarves.  I made a white one and a blue one.  I should be able to make a six foot scarf with a little over one skein of this yarn.  I'm knitting this on a size 11 circular needle to get a very drapey fabric.  So pretty.

The Scarf I Couldn't Finish Is Done.

   I had an awful time knitting this scarf.  I started knitting this back in late May.  I have been trying to finish the scarf since then but I kept making ugly mistakes and having to rip it out and start over.  I started over about five time.  It was completely worth it to get it right because it's done now and I'm super happy with it.  This was knit with KnitPicks Brava worsted yarn in the denim colorway.  It's approximately six feet long and it took about 1.25 balls of yarn.  I knit this on size 11 knitting needles and the lacy fabric is very drapey and pretty.

Another Lacey Scarf Started

   I had to take my car in for service today.  I always wait for my car when it's just an oil change and tire rotation so I needed a easy knitting project.  I decided to start a new scarf ("One Row Lace Scarf") so I could knit while I waited for my car.  To make this project I'm using white Red Heart yarn that I found in my stash and a pair of size 11 - 29" bamboo circular needles (I think they were made by Boye) which were perfect for this yarn and this pattern.  I'm loving how this scarf is knitting up.

Finished Lace Scarf and Starting A Hat

   Finishing this scarf makes me want to make a bunch of these in lots of colors.  Love the simplicity of the pattern and the finished scarf.

    This is not a flattering picture but I was trying to get the full length in the picture.  I think I stopped knitting at just over 6 feet in length.   I did not use the full skein of the second skein that I started, so I have leftover yarn, but I still love the scarf.  This scarf fits doubled around the neck perfectly.

   And this is close up of the stitches and how pretty they are.

I started another knitting project with a yarn I have had for at least two years when I bought six skeins of it because I loved it so much.  I made a couple of items with it in 2016.  I made a knitted neck warmer and a crocheted scarf with it and now I need a hat to complete the set.  This is Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn in the Cappuccino colorway.  It's so soft and pretty.  To use up this yarn I decided to make my go to hat pattern "The Boyfriend Hat" by Stephanie Nicole.  The pattern link is here.  I'm going to use up the last four skeins of this yarn on this hat so I'm knitting this with double strands and I will knit this hat until it's gone so this will be a stocking cap style hat.

Stocking Cap - Better Picture

I realized that the picture I posted a few days ago of the stocking cap on the floor in all it's 54 inch glory was not a really representative picture.  Here's a better picture of how it can be worn.

The Christmas Stocking Cap Is Finished.

  I love this hat.  It fits well.  It's 54" long and I can use it as a hat with a scarf attached.  So much fun.

 

Christmas Stocking Cap Half Done

I have knit 27 inches of the red yarn this beauty so far.  It's going a little quicker than I thought it would.  I knit on this hat every time I get a chance to sit down.  This is so much fun.  I can't wait to wear it this Christmas.   This will be getting a pom pom and jingle bells added when I finally finish.

My First Successful Serger Project

    I made my first headbands.  I bought a yard of pretty floral knit jersey (along with several other knit jersey prints) from Fabric.com.  I made three headbands and I have enough fabric left over to make a couple of scarves with this material, which I'm going to make up after I finish making my headbands up.  I used the Crafty Gemini video tutorial make up these headbands or turbands as she calls them.  The tutorial is here.

Fixing My Knitted Christmas Hat Problem

    I'm knitting another Christmas stocking cap.  The last two that I knitted did not fit right and were too big.  On the other two hats I used a 3 x 2 rib on the white cuff then I switched to stockinette in the red section.  When I switched to stockinette it stretched out the ribbing and made it way too loose.  I even reduced the number of stitches I used on the second hat I knit, but it also stretched.  I'm blaming the stockinette stitch.  I was constantly pulling the hat back onto my head.  Annoying. 

     It is time to replace the poorly fitting hat.  I looked on Ravelry for a pattern and and I found the perfect pattern which should make a great stocking cap for me.  The hat is made with the ribbing for the entire hat until you start to decrease.  Why didn't I think of that.  I love to knit ribbing.  The pattern is in a book called "Holiday Boutique Knitting" by Mary Jean Daigneault.  I found the book used on Amazon.  The stocking cap is actually a child's pattern so I just used the ribbing pattern from my favorite knitted hat pattern which is a 3 x 2 rib.  I'm going to make this about 4.0 feet long all in the lovely rib until I start to decrease after the 3 foot mark. 

     I started this project a couple of weeks ago.  I couldn't resist because I was ready for a knitting project.  I haven't done any knitting for quite a while.  I should have waited until I finished my poncho but the knitting needles were calling.   I even bought new needles to make this hat.  I bought a pair of Knit Picks size 7, 16" Sunstruck fixed circulars.  They are lovely.  I also bought two pair of interchangeable needles (same size in the Sunstruck material) and 32" cords to use when I start the decreases.  I use two circular needles to do decreases on my hats.  I never got the hang of double pointed needles, I was always worried about dropping stitches, so two circulars is the easiest way I have found for me to work decreases on my hats.  I learned this technique from a youtube video. 

     I knitted the white cuff with Knit Picks Brava Worsted in white and the red yarn is Lion Brand Pound of Love in the Cherry colorway (that is over a thousand yards of red yarn.  Yes, that ball of yarn is huge).   All acrylic.  I made the cuff 6" wide which is enough to be able to turn it up.  I'll be knitting the red yarn for a while.  I figure if I do a couple of inches every couple of days, I will have it done in a few months. 

  I do use a lot of stitch markers on this rib pattern.  The stitch markers make it easy to keep track of which stitches are where on my project.  There are ten stitches between each stitch marker, 3 knit, 2 purl, 3 knit and 2 purl.  I always know what I'm doing as long as I can count to 3.
   

More Sewing, No Crocheting

   I have two more flowers done on my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt.  I love the way this is turning out.   I should have taken this picture when the sun was out so you can see the colors clearer,  but the weather was not cooperating today and I wanted to get this posted.

    Here is a picture of my yarn for the Hotel of Bees Shawl that I will start soon.  The yarn is Knit Picks Comfy Sport, the dark pink is Peony, the beige is Parchment, and the light pink is Flamingo.  I'm looking forward to starting this project soon since I did manage to finish the Christmas towel embroideries and that project is half done now.

The Return

     I've been too busy to blog the last five months but I have been crafting and trying new things so I'll try to do a little catch up here.

     I finished my Carpenter Star quilt with simple quilting and an equally simple backing.  This quilt is made up of 100 squares, I made the half square triangles with 8" squares.  I love it.

    I finished my colorful pinwheel quilt and did simple quilting with a pretty lavender back and binding.

   I also made a a third string quilt which I offered for sale to my two older brothers.  The oldest brother bought it and loves it.  I make 10" string blocks using full size paper towels which finish at 9.5" and I make the quilt 7 blocks by 7 rows.  They make great size lap quilts.

  I found a Youtube video on how to knit fingerless mitts and I made a pair for myself and for my daughter out of acrylic yarn.  Love these.

   I bought myself some pom pom makers and I had to crochet a hat to try them out.

    I used my embroidery machine and made some embroidered hanging dishtowels for my brothers for St. Patrick's Day.  I wanted to remind them of our Mom who was 100% Irish and she loved St. Patrick's Day.

    I just recently finished this basket weave quilt.  I took the pattern from this website.  I counted how many squares the blogger used of each color and I cut 6" squares of three different colors of fabric and put mine together.  Love this quilt.

   I made a country floral quilt that I absolutely love.  I bought 49 - 10" floral squares from an eBay seller, put them together and had a quilt top in no time.  I backed it with some simple floral fabric and did my usual grid and diagonal quilting.

    I made another scrappy top using 3" squares of fabric and I backed it with a fun zebra print.  Love this quilt as well.

    I've been wanting a spool pin doily for all of my sewing machines and I couldn't find any for sale so I made up my own pattern.  It took me three tries to find something really nice to make them with.  I tried yarn and number 10 crochet thread, but the yarn was too thick and the crochet thread was too thin.  I settled on embroidery thread.  I had a ton of of it and this was a good way to use it up.  I ended up crocheting a lot of these little doilies, it turned into a little obsession.  I did give some away but I still have a bunch that I want to use for a pillow cover.   Here is how I make my doilies. 

I used six strands of embroidery floss with a size 1 (2.35 mm) steel crochet hook.

Round 1: Chain 4, join with a slip stitch to the first chain to make a ring.

Round 2: Chain 3 (counts as a double crochet) and make 11 double crochets in the ring for a total of 12 stitches, join with a slip stitch to the third chain in the beginning chain 3.

Round 3: Chain 1, make a single crochet in the first stitch, chain 3 and single crochet in the same stitch(these are picot stitches), make a single crochet in the next stitch, chain 3 and single crochet in the same stitch, do this in each of the 12 stitches around, join with a slip stitch to the beginning 
chain 1.

Round 4: (Another round of picot stitches) Chain 1, make a single crochet in the first chain 3 space, chain 3 and single crochet in the chain 3 space, make a single crochet in the next chain 3 space, chain 3 and single crochet in the same chain 3 space, do this in each of the 12 chain 3 spaces around, join with a slip stitch to the beginning chain 1, cut yarn and weave in ends.

    Each doily takes about 15 minutes to make.  I also made up some two and three color versions as well that were fun to do.  

    I knitted a tea pot cozy for the tea pot I keep on my stove top.  Color stranded knitting is new to me and I had a good time trying this out.  The curly q decorations are crocheted.

   I crocheted a shawl using the free Frosted Layer Cake pattern.   Here is a link to the YouTube video on how to do it.  Youtube video on how to make frosted layer cake shawl.  It was a fun pattern and so simple.  

     I'm currently working on making a new Irish Chain quilt to replace this one that I recently gave away to a friend.  I can't make it exactly because the fabric is no longer available, but I'm making it similar.

  

Little Girl Quilt Gifted

   So when my cousin's little girl turned one I made her a couple of gifts.  One gift was a quilt.  I bought a small quilt top from an ebay seller for $8.00.  I added the large pink rick rack to frame the inside of the top, I backed it with the pink daisy fabric in the picture below, did the quilting, and bound it with the pink daisy fabric.  It was a simple, fun project.

   This is the fabric I used for the back and binding:

      The second gift was a knitted toy.  I knit her a toy from the Big Book Of Knitted Monsters, by Rebecca Danger.  I can't find a picture of the finished monster and I don't remember which monster it actually was, but I do remember the pattern was easy to follow and it was a fun knit.

Two More Baby Projects From The Past

       When my cousin had her baby five years ago, I made her three baby gifts, one was the crocheted afghan that I showed in the previous post, another was a fleece blanket with a crocheted edging.  I bought a yard of very colorful fleece and crocheted a bright yellow scalloped edging on it.  It was super simple to make and made a great blanket for tummy time.   Here's a picture.

The last gift was a knitted toy.  The toy pattern is called Uh-Ohs and it's a pattern you have to buy from a seller on Ravelry so I can't divulge any of the details of the pattern.   I was a beginner knitter and this pattern was easy to follow and it was fun to knit.  The sewing at the end was a little fiddly but is was well worth it.  This was my completed toy.

Miss Marple Scarf in Acrylic

    I had to remake the Miss Marple Scarf in a yarn I could wear around my neck that wouldn't itch.  I knit this pattern about a week ago (blog post here) in some wool yarn I had in my stash and although the colors in the yarn were quite pretty, the scarf is extremely scratchy.  I knew when I tried it on after it was finished I wouldn't wear it very much.   

    But I really love the design of the scarf and the name of it.  It's super cute and I knew I wanted to re-knit this fun pattern in a soft acrylic yarn that wouldn't itch.  I used a skein of Caron Simply Soft in the Bone colorway that I found in Walmart for about $3.65 including tax.